I keep picking this book up because Peter Dickinson is one of my favorite authors, and then I keep getting bored by it. I think it is not meant to be. Read [b:Eva|631169|Eva|Peter Dickinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328397920s/631169.jpg|1964961] or [b:A Bone From a Dry Sea|229459|A Bone From a Dry Sea|Peter Dickinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403190501s/229459.jpg|891912] or [b:The Seventh Raven|3138455|The Seventh Raven|Peter Dickinson|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|3169891] instead.

I stopped reading after chapter 7. This is a well written book with well developed characters, but drags if you are looking for
an historical adventure. ( )

Other reviewers are comparing this to other works by the author, other award-winning books, other books about religion, their own guesses of what teens will read, their own perceptions about the Orient and about Eastern & Christian religions.... I give this book four stars because I believe it to be worthy of four stars when judged on its own merits.

I do agree that it seems almost like two books. It is long, and for the first part it is adventure. As the characters get to know each other, and we them, it's a 'man against nature' quest. When our three travellers reach Tibet, it gets philosophical. It is *not* vague or rambling - reviewers who say that must have been reading while tired, or while distracted. It *is* provocative.

Some might label it historical fiction, as it does take place in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, and does talk a bit about Chinese and Tibetan politics. I wish it had said more - I did not learn enough history from this... and I'm about burnt out on historical fiction. In fact, I'm not sure the particular monastery named is real. Iow, I wouldn't put this in that genre. It's literature or adventure.

It's also gracefully written - the people and the mountains feel entirely real, the pages keep turning, the ending makes sense with all that's gone before but it's not predictable... a good book. Should not be overlooked.

I do note, in my public library, that books for MG tend longer than those for YA. Teens have more going on in their lives, and 10-13 year-olds can focus better and are more curious? In any case, this is a book for all ages 15 and up -- maybe as young as 11 if the family is not shy of references to adultery and idolatry and the child is a good reader. ( )

When Theodore's father's mission settlement is burnt to the ground, Theodore is the sole survivor. When he is sneaking back into the blackened ruins, he encounters, Mrs. Jones, a botanist traveling across China.

There was something that seemed completely childish about the writing style. The characters were very stereotypical and really just caricatures of people. Overall, a bust. ( )

Thirteen-year-old Theodore Tewker is the only survivor of a Boxer attack on his father's mission Settlement. Alone in rural China, he falls in with a botanist and her servant/translator. Although Theodore finds Mrs. Jones to be crude and blasphemous, he comes to like and admire her anyway. The three of them travel across China, dodging bandits, eventually heading across the border into Tibet. There they meet a lama who is searching for the reincarnated Tulku and believes that Theodore might be the one. So they find themselves at a monastery, not quite prisoners, and taking instruction in Buddhism, much to Theodore's disquiet.

Exciting and thought-provoking, with compelling characters and no easy answers. Written as YA, but well worth attention by adults.

Now available as an ebook. ( )