Christina Soontornvat, author of Newbery Honor book A Wish in the Dark, has written another middle grade fiction novel with an imaginary world setting, and this one is also set in a place that feels southeast Asian or Asian Pacific but is in fact completely imaginary. Sai, our protagonist, is a girl from the slums who is pretending to be an educated, middle class girl with a chance at a future. However, in the Kingdom of Mangkon, future prospects depend on lineage, the number of respected and verified ancestors that one can claim, and Sai not only has no money, she also has no lineage, only a criminal for a father and a mother who disappeared when Sai was a child. Sai managed to finagle her way into becoming Assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, Paiyoon Wongyai, but when she doesn’t get a “lineal” on her thirteenth birthday, everyone will know that Sai is an imposter and a usurper. Her only chance is to go with Master Paiyoon on an expedition to the south seas, discover the fabled Sunderlands where the dragons live, and come back a heroine.

Sai is a typical middle grade fantasy protagonist, a poor and challenged child with special talents, looking for a way to move up in the world. She is interesting insofar as she makes some bad choices but manages to come through in the end, and she never discovers that she is anything other than the poor child of criminal and often absent parents, although her father does have some saving character traits in the end as well. I like the idea that Sai doesn’t have to discover that she’s really a princess in disguise to become a worthy and productive member of society.

There’s also a touch of anti-colonialism in the story as Sai learns that discovering a new territory and annexing it to the kingdom of Mangkoon, sometimes means exploiting that new place and oppressing its people. And she finds a way to undermine that move toward colonial exploitation without having the story become didactic and heavy with messaging.

Christina Soontornvat is fast becoming one of my favorite contemporary authors of middle grade fantasy fiction, and I can’t wait to read more of her work. I’m especially interested in reading her other Newbery honor book, the nonfiction All Thirteen: the Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team.