In the year 1937, Japanese bombers began raids over China. In an effort to save the lives of the students of Minghua University and the 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends, the university's teachers make a daring plan: Each student is given one book of the 147-volume collection to carry thousands of miles to China's western provinces. Nineteen-year-old student Hu Lian undertakes the task not just for the sake of her school and the priceless volumes, but also to find her mother, who was forced out of her home and sought shelter in Shanghai. It soon becomes evident that, in spite of the perils of the journey, the students and teachers seem to be under the protection of supernatural beings, guardian spirits who have been awakened and who also have their own path to take--one that may change China forever. VERDICT Chang (Dragon Springs Road) has created a lovely novel that is both joyful and lighthearted and deeply tragic as she explores a culture and people who are forced to accept that their country will never be the same following the war and the departure of the spirits that protected their land for centuries.--Jane Henriksen Baird, formerly at Anchorage P.L., AK

Chang (Dragon Springs Road) explores the effects of the Second Sino-Japanese War on students in this spellbinding tale. In 1937, after the Japanese bomb Nanking, students at Minghua University flee to an interim campus in Chengtu, including a group entrusted with Minghua's sacred 147 encyclopedia volumes from the Ming dynasty, known as the Library of Legends. Hu Lian, 19, enrolled in Minghua to study the volumes. Now, on the journey with them to Chengtu, she is intent on letting her mother in Shanghai know about the evacuation as she befriends fellow student Liu Shaoming "Shao" and his servant, Sparrow. Their travels are fraught with the perils of bombing raids and poor living conditions, yet Lian continues her research on Willow Star, a legend about an immortal princess who returns to Earth with each of her reincarnations, and begins falling for Shao. In a supernatural twist, Lian discovers Sparrow is Willow Star, and fears that as long as Sparrow remains on Earth, Shao will never return her love. As the journey becomes more dangerous, Shao and Sparrow join Lian as she veers off for Shanghai where she hopes to find her mother. Chang expertly weaves mysticism and historical details, and sets up a cast of memorable characters. This will charm readers from the very first page. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. (May)

They dubbed themselves the Minghua 123: 114 students and nine professors (plus 16 uncounted servants-laborers). In 1937, to escape the Japanese onslaught, they flee their university in Nanking to seek refuge a thousand miles westward. Saving their lives includes safeguarding 147 volumes of the Library of Legends, a priceless, 500-year-old Ming Dynasty collection of myths and folklore. Lian bears an additional burden that must remain secret: her late father was wrongfully labeled a Japanese collaborator. When murder, arrest, and betrayal disrupt the journey, Lian realizes staying with the group is riskier than venturing alone. A wealthy heir and his enigmatic servant insist on accompanying her toward Shanghai, still an international haven, for now. Despite an intriguing premise, Chang's meandering third novel ultimately disappoints. That said, groupies will relish the wink-wink recognition of characters from Three Souls (2014) and Dragon Springs Road (2017), and history aficionados will appreciate the Chang family-inspired true stories, including war-necessitated exoduses of Chinese university students, the guardianship of literary treasures, and the little girl who walked into battle on her soldier-father's shoulders.