I enjoyed this book it really descrobes life through a childs eyes as her life changes she takes you through it you are the narrator and is the one feeling, seeing all the girl's seen. ( )

Princess Red Bird is the daughter of the king of all the Hsien people in Southern China, in the year A.D. 531. As a princess, Red Bird has many responsibilities to her people. For the past few years, her parents have sent her to be educated in a Chinese colonial town. She has learned to read and speak in Chinese, and to serve as an interpreter between her people and the Chinese officials. Red Bird is only sixteen, but she has had to grow up fast, and when war erupts, her life changes even more. She knows that if the Hsien and the Chinese could only become allies, they could fight together against their common enemy. But is an alliance between two very different peoples even possible? This new book from the Royal Diaries series brought to life Southern China long ago, and taught me many fascinating details about the life and culture there in A.D. 531. ( )

This book was meticulously researched and brought to life a section of Chinese life I was completely unfamiliar with. I knew only bits and fragments of the Hsien, Princess Red Bird's tribe, and even less about the inter-tribe battles of Southern China. After all, wasn't China unified? I sure do need to study more on China's history.

Red Bird lived an interesting dual life; she was a member of her Hsien tribe but she also was educated by the Chinese, and she had a great respect and understanding for both cultures. She is forced to grow up quickly when her father is killed and war threatens to tear her tribe to pieces. There is tons of action in this story, which was a nice change after some of the slower books in this series. ( )