Chengli and the Silk Road Caravan

by Hildi Kang

Overview

Chengli is an orphaned errand boy who lives in Chang'an China in 630 A.D. His mother has died from illness and his father is presumed dead after disappearing into the desert when Chengli was a baby. Now thirteen, Chengli feels ready for independence. He is drawn to the desert, beckoned by the howling of strange winds and the hope of learning something about his father--who he was and how he died. Chengli joins a caravan to travel down the merchant route known as the Silk Road, but it is a dangerous life, as his father knew. The desert is harsh, and there are many bandits--bandits interested in Chengli's caravan because a princess, her servants, and royal guards are traveling with them. But the desert is full of amazing places and life-changing experiences, as the feisty princess learns the meaning of friendship and Chengli learns the heroism of which he is capable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933718620
Publisher:	Tanglewood
Publication date:	09/08/2011
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
File size:	667 KB
Age Range:	8 - 18 Years

About the Author

Hildi Kang is a former educator, a writer, and active traveler, having made trips by foot, bike, and llama. An early love of books and maps led to dreams of the blue-domed mosques of Samarkand and the donkey market in Kashgar. In the 1990s, the borders of previous Communist country opened, and Hildi, her husband, and two companions (plus driver and interpreter), spent a month following the trade routes around the Taklamakan desert in the northwest province of China and crossing into Uzbekistan to follow the road from the cities of Khiva to Samarkand. Hildi Kang is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and as an educator, she taught elementary Special Education. Her writing includes five books for elementary school teachers, an entry in Fire and Wings, the dragon anthology of Cricket Books, and two academic books on Korean history. When not writing or traveling, she hikes, bikes, and plays cello in a local orchestra. She and her family lived many years in the town of Clarence Center near Buffalo, New York, and currently reside in Livermore, California.

Editorial Reviews

"This fast-paced adventure is filled with friendship, historical detail, changing scenery, and action. It will appeal to a wide range of readers." — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Gr 5–8—In seventh-century China, 13-year-old Chengli heeds the call of a desert wind. He works for a silk merchant in Chang'an when he joins a caravan traveling the Silk Road to Kashgar. An orphan, he longs to see the desert where he was born and hopes to learn more about his father, an inspector murdered by bandits. Chengli makes friends on the journey, including a princess being married off to a neighboring king, her servants, and a fellow camel boy with dark secrets. He explores every town along the way, meets several other people traveling west, survives a bandit attack, and gathers scraps of information about his father. When bandits kidnap the princess, Chengli leaves the caravan to join up with Kazakh nomads and attempt a rescue. The transitory style of caravan life leads to characters appearing and disappearing just as quickly, but Chengli and his friends slowly change and grow as they near Kashgar. This fast-paced adventure is filled with friendship, historical detail, changing scenery, and action. It will appeal to a wide range of readers.—Jennifer Rothschild, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Oxon Hill, MD

School Library Journal

A 13-year-old boy joins a caravan to find someone who knew his dead father and encounters a sand sea of dangers in ancient China, 630 C.E.

A ghost wind calls Chengli to leave the Imperial City of Chang'an, which he loves, and Old Cook, who raised him, to sign on as a lowly camel boy with a trade caravan carrying silk and thousands of precious items. They trek west, leaving the protection of China's Great Wall, and skirt the edge of the fearful desert until they reach Kashgar, where hundreds of caravans come together to buy and sell everything imaginable.When a princess betrothed to marry the ruler of a nomad kingdom joins the caravan, the 2,000-mile journey becomes even more dangerous. The rigors of sands and winds aren't the only hazards Chengli faces: There are also a traitorous new friend, horse-riding thieves who abduct the princess, beatings and imprisonment. Cultural practices and beliefs are detailed, and descriptions depict the setting and era though the dialogue slips a few times into the colloquial. Three pages of historical notes serve as a glossary, but there is no map, which would be helpful. All in all, this is reminiscent of the work of Lloyd Alexander, though, sadly, not as sparkling.

Not likely to be an easy sell due to the unusual time period and slow beginning, but readers who forge ahead will enjoy an interesting adventure. (Historical fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews