Startling Moon

"Startling Moon follows Taotao on a journey of discovery as she comes to understand her mother's stark choice - and to look towards a very different China. Her first guides are her grandparents, who open her eyes to a rich tradition of folk tales, Peking Opera and classical poetry. Hungry to learn more, she travels to a distant university; to the timeless grasslands of Inner Mongolia; and finally to the city of Beijing, electric with the excitement of the democracy movement. Above all, it is the story of her quest to know her own heart: of the joys and responsibilities of friendship, the pain of first love, and of the full blossoming of passion for an older, western man, which will lead Taotao to risk her safety, and all that she holds dear."--BOOK JACKET.