Mission to Cathay tells the fictionalized story of Father Matteo Ricci, the first Western Christian missionary to enter mainland China. In 1583, Father Ricci gained permission to build a mission in Suiching in southern China near Canton. He stayed in Suiching until 1589 when he was expelled by a hostile government official. After that, he travelled to other cities in China and eventually had an audience withe Emperor in Peking. Father Ricci stayed in China until his death, and he was honored with a state funeral by order of the Emperor.

The book covers only the first few years of Father Ricci’s stay in Suiching from the point of view of a servant boy with a mysterious past. With only the name Boy and no family that he knows about, the servant becomes a part of the family of the Lord of Heaven, although his Chinese mind is far from understanding what it means to be in the family of God through Christ. Father Ricci tries to comunicate the gospel to the Chinese by becoming a part of their culture, but he fears losing himself in vast and ancient land. Anothe subplot involves Boy meeting a mysterious boy named Chang with a secret so perilous that it could endanger the entire Christian mission to China.

The ending to this book and the solution to all the mysterious occurences was too easily deciphered from all the clues that were rather obviously embedded in the story. However, it might not be as obvious to elementary age children. I did enjoy the pieces of Chinese history and culture that were a part of the story. This book would make a good read aloud for a unit study on China or Chinese or world history.