The Kite Rider

With The Kite Rider, Carnegie Medalist Geraldine McCaughrean delivers a dazzling story of adventure, betrayal, family, and sacrifice set in the dramatic, dangerous world of thirteenth-century China. “A genuine page-turner,” raved ALA Booklist in a starred review!

The Great Miao, master of the Jade Circus, offers twelve-year-old Haoyou the amazing chance to change his life—to escape from his family’s poverty and the pain of his father’s recent death—by becoming a kite rider!

Strapped onto a beautiful scarlet-and-gold kite, Haoyou is sent into the sky to soar perilously among the clouds and entertain awestruck crowds below. Traveling the Empire with the circus, Haoyou earns freedom, money, and unexpected fame as he skillfully performs for local villagers who believe he can bring back messages from lost loved ones whose spirits haunt the sky.

The Great Miao even plans for the boy to perform before the Mongol conqueror Kublai Khan himself! But what if the Miao isn’t all that he seems? And can Haoyou really leave behind all the duties that bind him to the ground—his family and especially his widowed mother—for good?

Up and up the wind drew him.
Haoyou looked about him and saw the whole
world beneath him. And it was his. He could
breathe! Today Haoyou was a kite, a
windhover riding on spread wings.

The great Miao master of the Jade Circus, offers twelve-year-old Haoyou the amazing chance to change his life -- to escape from his family's poverty and the pain of his father's recent death -- by becoming a kite rider!

Strapped onto a beautiful scarlet -- and-gold kite, Haoyou is sent into the sky to soar perilously among the clouds and entertain the awestruck crowds below. Traveling the Empire as part of the Jade Circus, Haoyou earns freedom, money, and unexpected fame -- as he skillfully performs for local villagers who believe he can bring back messages from lost loved ones whose spirits haunt the sky. Miao even plans for Haoyou to perform before the Mongol conqueror Kublai Khan himself!

But what about the duties that bind Haoyou to the ground -- his duties to his family, especially to his widowed mother? And is the Great Miao all that he seems, or could he be using Haoyou in a treacherous plot?

From incredibly versatile Carnegie Medalist Geraldine McCaughrean, author of The Stones Are Hatching, comes this dazzling story of adventure, betrayal, family, and sacrifice set in the dramatic, dangerous world of thirteenth-century China.

“A genuine page-turner. Not only a solid adventure story but also a window to a fascinating time and place.” - ALA Booklist (starred review)

“There’s no livelier or more fluent storyteller than McCaughrean. Skillful plotting, hair-raising suspense, and vivid details all help bring this adventure to splendid life.” - Horn Book Magazine

“With her exuberant, nonstop plotting and supremely colorful setting, McCaughrean grabs hold of readers’ imaginations and doesn’t let go.” - Publishers Weekly