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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Abilene knows that it's best to jump off a train before you reach the station, because you should get a look at a town before it gets a look at you. She doesn't know why her daddy Gideon has sent her to Manifest, Kansas, though, or where or why he's going without her in the depth of the Depression, or why things changed so much recently when the cut on her leg got infected and she got so sick. And she doesn't know why no one in Manifest seems to have anything to say about her daddy, since he had plenty of stories to tell about the town when he supposedly lived there nearly 20 years back. And she doesn't know what to make of the box she finds under the floorboards with mysterious letters, fishing lures, corks, and skeleton keys ... or what the Hungarian fortune teller's stories about long-ago Manifest and a couple of boys not named Gideon have to do with her daddy. But she's going to find out ... preferably before her daddy comes back for her ... if he comes ...
Clare Vanderpool won the Newbery Award for Moon Over Manifest, her first novel. Part mystery, part adventure story, large part historical fiction that will teach young readers much more than they will realize about social history of the US during the early part of the 20th century, the story alternates between Manifest in the Depression and during its heyday two decades previously. Abilene is a charming heroine, the characters are vivid, and if some parts of the story (especially the denouement) are a little far-fetched, the eloquence of the writing and the excellence of the sweep of the story more than make up for it.
Clare Vanderpool won the Newbery Award for Moon Over Manifest, her first novel. Part mystery, part adventure story, large part historical fiction that will teach young readers much more than they will realize about social history of the US during the early part of the 20th century, the story alternates between Manifest in the Depression and during its heyday two decades previously. Abilene is a charming heroine, the characters are vivid, and if some parts of the story (especially the denouement) are a little far-fetched, the eloquence of the writing and the excellence of the sweep of the story more than make up for it.
2011 Newbery Medal Winner.
I finally finished this one. I listened to the audio version and thought that the narrator was not a very good choice for this book. This could be since I have listened to other teen novels and have associated her narration with teen books and not children's books.
I finally finished this one. I listened to the audio version and thought that the narrator was not a very good choice for this book. This could be since I have listened to other teen novels and have associated her narration with teen books and not children's books.
Read via audio, this was a wonderful, engrossing novel touching on so many fascinating bits of history -- WWI, the Depression, early-20th-century immigration, the Influenza Pandemic, orphan trains, riding the rails, Prohibition -- and tying them all together into a strong with strong characters in a strong narrative. It reminded me a tiny bit -- in a good way -- of To Kill a Mockingbird -- another story of a small town during a hard time with a number of well-drawn male and female characters. I especially like the positive view of female friendship and strength that ties all the pieces together.
I was wary of this Newbery winner; it seems like so many winners are set during the Depression (okay, maybe like 2 others) and are rather dull and sad. That's what I thought this book would be like. Instead, I was pleased to read a skillfully told tale spanning two generations. The characters are real and lively and the protagonist is a spunky, smart, inquisitive young girl. There are fun hijinks, clever plot twists and genuinely poignant moments. I hope Clare Vanderpool writes more books!
When I started this book, I was bored. I wished I could be reading s different book. The main character and her friends were not interesting to me, and I liked reading about the characters from the past better.
Around the middle of the book, it started to pick up. I got more attached to Ned and Jinx, those characters from the past. As everything started coming together, I really enjoyed it. The characters and words moved me.
One thing about this book that you can't find in many other books is a message. A clear, thoughtful message that really made you think. I think that's what really made me like the book.
Around the middle of the book, it started to pick up. I got more attached to Ned and Jinx, those characters from the past. As everything started coming together, I really enjoyed it. The characters and words moved me.
One thing about this book that you can't find in many other books is a message. A clear, thoughtful message that really made you think. I think that's what really made me like the book.
The format of this book was neat and so was the story. I can't figure out why it was SO slow, but it really really was. I am glad to have it behind me.
This won the Newbery Medal, so who am I to criticize? I don't read a ton of YA but I really enjoyed this book, which our book club selected for April.
Abilene Tucker is twelve when her father sends her to his former hometown of Manifest, Kansas, in the middle of the Depression. Vanderpool takes a classic setup — child away from parents, small-town secrets to uncover, flashbacks, a box of keepsakes — and creates a solid and rarely cliched story about an independent girl who yearns to know more about her father's past.
The novel hops back and forth between summer 1936 and World War I, with the town storyteller serving as the guide to the past. Vanderpool covers a lot of ground in terms of historical events but the story doesn't read like a middle-school textbook. Too many historical books, esp. those for young people, spell out the details of the period in boring exposition. Vanderpool weaves in not just major events such as the influenza epidemic, but little things, like a girl sharing her only cookie because sugar wasn't so plentiful.
I never forgot I was reading a YA book, perhaps because the language is simpler and Vanderpool carefully ties together all the threads and all the characters, something I appreciated when I was a younger reader. However, that is not really a criticism because this IS a YA novel. I also did not feel strong connection to Abilene--things happen to her but I wanted to know more about her. I'd recommend this book to anyone who finds the premise interesting, and it would be a good place to start a classroom discussion about the Depression and/or World War I.
Abilene Tucker is twelve when her father sends her to his former hometown of Manifest, Kansas, in the middle of the Depression. Vanderpool takes a classic setup — child away from parents, small-town secrets to uncover, flashbacks, a box of keepsakes — and creates a solid and rarely cliched story about an independent girl who yearns to know more about her father's past.
The novel hops back and forth between summer 1936 and World War I, with the town storyteller serving as the guide to the past. Vanderpool covers a lot of ground in terms of historical events but the story doesn't read like a middle-school textbook. Too many historical books, esp. those for young people, spell out the details of the period in boring exposition. Vanderpool weaves in not just major events such as the influenza epidemic, but little things, like a girl sharing her only cookie because sugar wasn't so plentiful.
I never forgot I was reading a YA book, perhaps because the language is simpler and Vanderpool carefully ties together all the threads and all the characters, something I appreciated when I was a younger reader. However, that is not really a criticism because this IS a YA novel. I also did not feel strong connection to Abilene--things happen to her but I wanted to know more about her. I'd recommend this book to anyone who finds the premise interesting, and it would be a good place to start a classroom discussion about the Depression and/or World War I.
Abilene Tucker, Jinx, Ned, Miss Sadie, Shady; I think I might meet them at the next family reunion. The author has created a very loveable and real narrator with spunk and determination to unearth the story. Alternating chapters between 1936 and 1918 made this story always fresh. Though the book might not technically fall in the mystery category, it certainly has a mystery to solve. The author takes the read to the time periods and links them together with the mystery. What could be better for this reader who's first choices in reading: mystery and historical fiction!
There is no doubt in my mind that this book is deserving of the Newbery Medal, but again it is a title that might not resonate with the audience intended. I've had one 6th grader already return it unfinished. So only time will tell how the book plays with young readers.
BOOKTALK: It was a Lucky Bill cigar box. Inside were old letters, a homemade map, a cork, a fishhook, a silver dollar, a fancy key, and a tiny baby doll no bigger than a thimble. Abilene Tucker found them under a floor board. She hoped they would help her know more about her dad and why he sent her to Manifest, Kansas, for the summer.
There is no doubt in my mind that this book is deserving of the Newbery Medal, but again it is a title that might not resonate with the audience intended. I've had one 6th grader already return it unfinished. So only time will tell how the book plays with young readers.
BOOKTALK: It was a Lucky Bill cigar box. Inside were old letters, a homemade map, a cork, a fishhook, a silver dollar, a fancy key, and a tiny baby doll no bigger than a thimble. Abilene Tucker found them under a floor board. She hoped they would help her know more about her dad and why he sent her to Manifest, Kansas, for the summer.
A delightful and well researched historical novel about a girl who arrives in Manifest, Kansas and discovers mystery and family there. It has many twists, and the main character of Abilene is spunky and smart.
This historical fiction had a lot of threads woven together, reminding me in some ways of Holes by Louis Sachar. Some outcomes were pretty obvious, but others were surprises. The book did a good time of painting the town of Manifest--I had a strong sense of time and place.
Abilene is sent to live in her father's hometown during the depression. Her father, Gideon, moves from place to place, and he believes that's no life for his daughter after she turns twelve. Mom ran off when Abilene was a toddler. She actually has no family Manifest, but she stays with Shady, the guardian whom Gideon lived with as a boy. Abilene hopes Gideon will come for her.
The rest of the book is a series of mysteries Abilene is trying to solve about the town and her father. It's a place that seems bogged down by and unwilling to share its secrets. Abilene learns about the fabric of the town through stories, letters, newspaper clippings, and her own investigating with two friends. But what Abilene can't seem to find is the story of her father and why he abandoned her.
Abilene is sent to live in her father's hometown during the depression. Her father, Gideon, moves from place to place, and he believes that's no life for his daughter after she turns twelve. Mom ran off when Abilene was a toddler. She actually has no family Manifest, but she stays with Shady, the guardian whom Gideon lived with as a boy. Abilene hopes Gideon will come for her.
The rest of the book is a series of mysteries Abilene is trying to solve about the town and her father. It's a place that seems bogged down by and unwilling to share its secrets. Abilene learns about the fabric of the town through stories, letters, newspaper clippings, and her own investigating with two friends. But what Abilene can't seem to find is the story of her father and why he abandoned her.