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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
A beautifully woven story. I cried. But I struggled to get into Manifest from the beginning. Maybe this is a pattern for me lately, or I've gotten used to having an early engaging plot. Either way, I wasn't motivated to read until more than halfway through the book.
I am thrilled with Clare Vanderpool and amazed that this is a first published novel! I highly recommend it as the people are interesting, the situation is nicely portrayed and it is creative.
Hope is a theme throughout the novel. The immigrants coming to America had hope for a better future. The young men heading off to war had hope of being heroes. The people left behind hoped their loved ones would come home. Jinx hoped to find a home. Shady hoped to be a better man. Miss Sadie hoped to be heard. Gideon hoped for his daughter's well-being. The town of Manifest was seeking for a hope to pull themselves out of the Depression. Abilene hoped for Gideon to return, and hope for a place to belong.
I loved how Vanderpool introduces the hodge podge of cultures in Manifest through the immigrants' native dishes and sporting games. It is also interesting to consider the plight of the immigrants' working conditions in 1936 compared to the conditions of today's immigrants. Aren't immigrants still seeking hope for a better future? In fact, isn't the American Dream truly a dream of ...
To read the full review go to ...http://talesuntangled.wordpress.com
Hope is a theme throughout the novel. The immigrants coming to America had hope for a better future. The young men heading off to war had hope of being heroes. The people left behind hoped their loved ones would come home. Jinx hoped to find a home. Shady hoped to be a better man. Miss Sadie hoped to be heard. Gideon hoped for his daughter's well-being. The town of Manifest was seeking for a hope to pull themselves out of the Depression. Abilene hoped for Gideon to return, and hope for a place to belong.
I loved how Vanderpool introduces the hodge podge of cultures in Manifest through the immigrants' native dishes and sporting games. It is also interesting to consider the plight of the immigrants' working conditions in 1936 compared to the conditions of today's immigrants. Aren't immigrants still seeking hope for a better future? In fact, isn't the American Dream truly a dream of ...
To read the full review go to ...http://talesuntangled.wordpress.com
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed the voice and I like the author's style, but there was a lot going on in this story. Found myself flipping back to the list of characters in the front of the book too often.
As I began reading Moon Over Manifest, I was very disappointed. The beginning was slow and boring. I couldn’t imagine why it had been picked as a Newberry Award winner, especially after reading Gauch’s article on “What Makes a Good Newberry Novel?” She claims at the beginning of the article that, “At the heart of every Newberry is a remarkable character . . . not just a character who carries the weight of the story, but a character original in voice, in spirit, in ideas” (Gauch 52). So, as I explored Vanderpool’s novel, I looked for these qualities. Certainly, Abilene didn’t have them. Gauch’s second claim regarding Newberry novels is that “The stage . . . is key. It has to be right for the hero or heroine, because it is his or her world” (54). Again, I didn’t see it. Abilene seems all wrong for this town. She wants adventure. She wants exhilaration like jumping off of the railroad tracks. She doesn’t like to follow the rules, and she is tired of being the new kid in town. This town is bone dry, literally. It’s washed up. All of the stereotypes are the same as ones she’s encountered time after time.
Yet as I thought about it and as I continued reading, I realized how wrong I was. From the minute Abilene jumped off the train, she was bound to encounter the adventure she longed for. She entered a town that was dry, but it needed watered. She was the water to help it grow again. She was exactly what Manifest needed. Gauch’s third key is that the “Newberry winner . . . moves. The author meets the character somewhere sends her . . . from here to there . . . but invariably we feel the wind in the wondrous wings of Newberry characters as they move through their story” (55-56). We met Abilene when she has been discarded by her father in a strange town where she knows no one. But, she has a quest. She wants to know more about her father and his connection to Manifest. From the beginning of the novel, that is what I wanted to discover. That is the key that kept me reading – the praxis of the story (Gauch 57).
Gauch, Patricia Lee. "What Makes a Good Newbery Novel?." Horn Book Magazine 87.4 (2011): 52-58. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 Sept. 2011.
Vanderpool, Clare. Moon Over Manifest. New York: Delacorte, 2010. Print.
Yet as I thought about it and as I continued reading, I realized how wrong I was. From the minute Abilene jumped off the train, she was bound to encounter the adventure she longed for. She entered a town that was dry, but it needed watered. She was the water to help it grow again. She was exactly what Manifest needed. Gauch’s third key is that the “Newberry winner . . . moves. The author meets the character somewhere sends her . . . from here to there . . . but invariably we feel the wind in the wondrous wings of Newberry characters as they move through their story” (55-56). We met Abilene when she has been discarded by her father in a strange town where she knows no one. But, she has a quest. She wants to know more about her father and his connection to Manifest. From the beginning of the novel, that is what I wanted to discover. That is the key that kept me reading – the praxis of the story (Gauch 57).
Gauch, Patricia Lee. "What Makes a Good Newbery Novel?." Horn Book Magazine 87.4 (2011): 52-58. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 Sept. 2011.
Vanderpool, Clare. Moon Over Manifest. New York: Delacorte, 2010. Print.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It took me awhile to get into, but eventually I grew to love all the characters and feel as if I knew them myself. I also liked the way author's use of language... very creative.
Listened to this on audiobook. Wonderful, riveting, moving. There were a few times I sat in the driveway because I wanted to hear what happened next. Fantastic heroine and some great supporting players.
Moon over Manifest, although not my favorite read because it does not fit my preferred genre, is worth the time. I absolutely loved the way this story was told, with the main character, Abilene, piecing together the past and present in order to better understand where her family came from and where they belong. Great story telling by Mrs. Vanderpool!
I thought this was a lovely children's book, and really good historical fiction. The characters were well developed and interesting.
Spoilers Below:
However, I had just read "Turtle in Paradise," and was a little surprised to see how similar the plots of the books are. This one is longer and more complicated, but seriously. In both books, young preteen girls live with a single parent during the Depression. Their parent works low paying and dead end jobs that require them to move around a lot together. Their parent takes a job that doesn't allow children, and the girls are sent to their parent's childhood home (here it's Kansas, in Turtle it was Key West.) The girls don't know anything about their parent's childhood, because they have been reticent to speak about it for some reason. They show up knowing nobody, and have an adventure of a summer making friends and discovering the towns and piecing together their parent's childhood. Both discover who their father is. Once all the pieces have been put together (why their parent left and doesn't want to talk about it, why the town is really so great, etc.) their parent returns, and has discovered that the town really is home and lives there happily ever after with the little girl.
Spoilers Below:
However, I had just read "Turtle in Paradise," and was a little surprised to see how similar the plots of the books are. This one is longer and more complicated, but seriously. In both books, young preteen girls live with a single parent during the Depression. Their parent works low paying and dead end jobs that require them to move around a lot together. Their parent takes a job that doesn't allow children, and the girls are sent to their parent's childhood home (here it's Kansas, in Turtle it was Key West.) The girls don't know anything about their parent's childhood, because they have been reticent to speak about it for some reason. They show up knowing nobody, and have an adventure of a summer making friends and discovering the towns and piecing together their parent's childhood. Both discover who their father is. Once all the pieces have been put together (why their parent left and doesn't want to talk about it, why the town is really so great, etc.) their parent returns, and has discovered that the town really is home and lives there happily ever after with the little girl.