When his older brother, Wei, dies, second son Deshi is sent out by his parents to find a corpse bride so that a ghost wedding may be performed and Wei can avoid loneliness in the afterlife. Deshi hires Mr. Song to help him find a body. On their quest, Deshi meets Lily who is running away from her parents. Lily ends up helping Deshi give his brother a proper ghost wedding in an unexpected way.
Because of some language and sexual situations, I'd recommend this book for grades 8 and up. Chinese folklore and ghost stories are very unique and this book offers a glimpse that might pique students' curiosity for what I feel is an under-appreciated Chinese cultural gem. Teenagers will like the fact that the main characters rebel against their parents' wishes. This element of the plot addresses Havighurst's developmental task because Deshi and Lily end up undergoing a major change in the relationship with their parents when they decide to abandon their families altogether in the end. The popularity of zombies and ghosts may also make this book appealing. Older readers may also enjoy Lisa See's Peony in Love which takes the idea of a ghost wedding and builds an intricate and captivating story around it. Having prior experience with the concept of a ghost wedding, it was refreshing to see it placed in a modern context in The Undertaking of Lily Chen.
No comments:
Post a Comment