SOLVED. YA fantasy book, Main character is monkey king who can turn his tail hair into tiny monkeys. [s]

[Mitchell]

Read this book around 2000. Author's name sounded Asian and the book was filed in the v-z section of the YA shelf at my library. I think it was a series.

The story was told in first person perspective and the narrator was the 'monkey king'. He could walk on air by doing backflips, his staff could magically grow and shrink, and he could pull hairs out of his tail and turn them into tiny monkey servants.

Some of the plot points were:
- traveled to an underwater kingdom where rich people had a banquet
- accidentally freed an ancient evil
- protagonist was good hearted by always messed things up

Any help would be appreciated, this has been bothering me for years and my oldest is about to reach the right age to read it.
Thanks!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Were there any human characters?

[Mitchell]

I think there may have been but the distinction isn't clear in my mind. I think he traveled with a boy and girl at one time or another. In fact he may have been able to transform into human form himself. Wish my recollections were clearer. Also I think it was set in medieval times somewhere in Asia.
Thanks for your interest!

[Jessica]

Is it the Dragon series by Laurence Yep? A dragon princess (who can change her size) travels with an orphan boy and the Monkey King to restore her kingdom. The Monkey King's tail hairs do all sorts of things, at one point they make the antagonist drink a bowl of soup that has a hair in it, and when she swallows it it turns into a chain inside her, and that is how they capture her. Dragon of the Lost Sea

[Mitchell]

SOLVED! Wow, I think that must be it. Now that you mention it I do remember the hair in the soup thing. Funny that the Monkey King made such an impression on me compared to everything else. Thanks for your help!

[Jessica]

Mitchell wrote: "SOLVED! Wow, I think that must be it. Now that you mention it I do remember the hair in the soup thing. Funny that the Monkey King made such an impression on me compared to everything else. Thanks ..."

Yay! Happy to help!

And yeah, as soon as I saw your description, I thought: It's got to be Yep's books! But the summaries of the books don't mention the Monkey King or any of the other stuff that happens. There's a lot going on here, and I mostly remember Monkey as well!