Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South, Southern China, A.D. 531

Better than I remembered! I'd probably rate it higher if I was in the intended target age range.

The Lady is well written, and the look into non-Han ethnogroups is interesting as someone whose knowledge of Chinese history is less than I'd like. Some the choices made on how to convey dialogue were not for me but I had fun.

A born leader, Lady of Ch'iao Kuo, also known as Princess Redbird, is both courageous and keenly intelligent in the year 500.

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 show more to life Southern China long ago, and taught me many fascinating details about the life and culture there in A.D. 531. show less

Read for a challenge. I'm so burnt out on children's historical fiction, and have so little natural interest in entire novels made up of scraps of ancient legends, that I just feel as if I can't evaluate objectively. This might be amazing, but I found it boring. Sorry.

This was a great story! I don't really know a whole lot about China or Chinese history, so this was a lot of fun to read. It was surprisingly long for a book in this series, but worth the read. I found it to be quite inspiring at times. a really good read for girls. 4 out of 5 stars.

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.

In 531 A.D., A fifteen year old princess of the Hsion tribe in southern China keeps a diary which describes her role as liason between her own people and the local Chinese colonists, in times of both peace and war.