Mun Mun leads us into the lives of Warner and his sister Prayer, "littlepoors" who are struggling to survive due to their size (we are told they are about the size of squirrels) and lack of opportunity. When their father is killed and their mother paralysed, they decide to take the bull by the horns and together with their friend Usher they travel to another city to make their fortune.
Of course, it is not as easy as that. Being the size of squirrels in a world where the mega-rich are the size of tower blocks means that it is almost impossible to earn the money (or mun mun) to scale up and become bigger (an actual medical procedure performed at the bank when you have enough money).
I have to admit that this book was not easy to read at first. Warner is illiterate and spells many words phonetically which makes it difficult to concentrate on the story. Also the world is so unusual, with different scales of people enjoying different standards of living, that I had to keep referring to the illustration on the first page to see what size of person we were talking about!
However, I ultimately found the book a very good read. The parallels made between the mega rich of our society and those that live in poverty were obvious. The hardships that the characters survived, the monetary temptations and the falls from grace when they just had to get up and try again were touching.
Definitely one to recommend - a bit weird but give it a go!
Of course, it is not as easy as that. Being the size of squirrels in a world where the mega-rich are the size of tower blocks means that it is almost impossible to earn the money (or mun mun) to scale up and become bigger (an actual medical procedure performed at the bank when you have enough money).
I have to admit that this book was not easy to read at first. Warner is illiterate and spells many words phonetically which makes it difficult to concentrate on the story. Also the world is so unusual, with different scales of people enjoying different standards of living, that I had to keep referring to the illustration on the first page to see what size of person we were talking about!
However, I ultimately found the book a very good read. The parallels made between the mega rich of our society and those that live in poverty were obvious. The hardships that the characters survived, the monetary temptations and the falls from grace when they just had to get up and try again were touching.
Definitely one to recommend - a bit weird but give it a go!