Title Bound / Donna Jo Napoli.

SRP 2012 REVIEW: Xing Xing is better known as "Lazy One", which is the name her stepmother calls her. Her stepsister is going through the process of foot binding so that she can be married off. Not all is well, but it seems to start going better when Xing first sees a beautiful fish nearby her home. She finds herself constantly drawn to the water and is convinced the fish is the spirit of her mother. Unfortunately her stepmother finds out about the fish as well and something unthinkable happens. I've read several versions of this Chinese Cinderella, but I loved the setting and differences of this one to include foot binding, a tradition that really quite scares me. A stunning story that takes you back in history while still having it's own kind of fairy tale magic.