ALL FOUR QUARTERS OF THE MOON

Through tales both familiar and new, two sisters navigate growing up and an international relocation.

It is Mid-Autumn Festival time in Singapore, and the Guo family’s gathering feels poignant because grandmother Ah Ma, Ma Ma, Ba Ba, and sisters Peijing and Biju are moving to Australia the following day for Ba Ba’s new job. As 11-year-old Peijing helps Ah Ma prepare moon cakes, the salted duck egg yolk center symbolizes the moon as the narrative theme interwoven throughout their family’s journey during their first year in their new home, through reinterpreted lore and superstitions. When the contents of the sisters’ secret Little World—paper-book crafted flora, fauna, landscapes, and a red barn, all housed in a cardboard box—vanish on the morning of their departure, only the paper jade rabbit (a legendary occupant of the moon) is salvaged and with it, the hope of rebuilding their private universe. Contrasting Peijing’s anxiety as the eldest child bearing expectations of responsibility, 5-year-old Biju’s exuberant, improvisational storytelling centers the sisters’ interactions as their lives transform in a new and very different environment. While Peijing finds her voice and makes new friends and Biju shines in the school play, Ah Ma’s declining health prompts them to capture memories in the moment. Biju’s retold legends are a highlight, showcasing her irreverent humor and demonstrating a self-assured agency that reminds readers of the power of stories’ evolution. Subtle contextual clues situate the story in the 1980s.

Inventive, ironic retellings frame this folktale-centered family story.