Chengli and the Silk Road Caravan

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