Reviews

Daughter of the Mountains by Kurt Wiese, Louise S. Rankin

triscuit807's review against another edition

4.0

Solid 4 stars. Pempa, "Momo" (dumpling), is the daughter of the local mail carrier and his wife, who runs a tea shop for the men of the mule caravans that transport Tibet's wool south across the Himalayas and into India to Calcutta (modern Kolkata). The story takes place a short time before Partition (separation of British imperial India into India/Hindustan and Pakistan) in 1947 which caused between 200,000 and 2 million deaths (it all depends how you count, I suppose) and displaced 14 million people. Because the book was published in 1948 none of that trauma occurs in the story. It is a mostly peaceful journey that Momo takes from her mountain home in Tibet to Calcutta in search of her stolen dog. That doesn't mean it's not an adventure, it's just that the political realities of the time are missing from the story. All the different ethnicities (Tibetan, Bhutanese, various Indian peoples, Sikhs, Chinese, etc) coexist peacefully under the "benevolent" hand of British rule and Momo seems to encounter all of them. Ultimately it's a story of faith. Momo wants a Lhasan terrier (Lhasa Apso) from the moment she sees one at a temple when she's 4 yrs old. Initially told that her uncle will bring one when he returns to the village, she tires of waiting and is told to pray - which she does diligently and often. When she is ten she prays with a fair amount of fervor, spinning the prayer wheels until the bells clang violently. This gets the attention of a monk/priest who investigates and basically tells her that her prayers will be answered...and of course they are when the season's first caravan delivers a puppy into her hands. Two years later her dog is stolen by a different caravan to be sold to a British woman in Calcutta. Momo leaves her home and follows after, always about a day or two late. Is it plausible that a 12-13 year old girl could make such a journey by herself while speaking only her own language? Probably not, but it is a good read. If I have a quibble, it's in the depiction of the British who are just a bit too wonderful and their servants are just a bit too happy. It nudges at my anti-imperialist tendencies. Would everyone enjoy this story? No. It's going to be a bit to descriptive and light on plot for many readers, but someone who likes reading about different cultures and travel will enjoy it. I read this for my 2019 Reading Challenge and my Newbery Challenge (Honor 1948).

storiesandsours's review

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

toggle_fow's review

5.0

I randomly found this book at a Goodwill when I was like, eight years old maybe. At this point I had not the first clue about any type of life outside my own very narrow experience, and the descriptions and details about Tibet and India blew my mind. It's not written by someone from there, so I don't know if everything is completely accurate or not, but the sheer mind-broadening effect of encountering so many new concepts was unforgettable to me as a kid. Even now I still really enjoy Momo's journey, and the way everything works out is super satisfying.

("EVERYTHING WORKS OUT TOO PERFECTLY, THERE'S NO WAY THAT'S REALISTIC!" Okay Lord Grimdark McEdgelord, but consider... that's the way I WANT everything to work out in my children's books, thank you.)