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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Small town Kansas switches from 1918 to 1930 something. A young girl is sent to Manifest, by her father. The father is a hobo, although hobo is not used in the book to describe his wanderings. This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. "It's not down in any maps. True places never are."
UHH SO the last 5 or so chapters of this were really hard to read because I was full-on sobbing. GUHHHH
GUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
GUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
Very sweet book about a girl who is looking for a home, and family, and how she finds it. In 1936, Abilene is sent to live with "Shady," who runs a church and a secret saloon, in the small town of Manifest Kansas where her father lived long ago. Her father has always been a drifter, and until she turned 12, that was okay with her, to ride the rails and live in many different towns. But now she's on her own, and while she waits out the summer for her dad to return for her, she wants to know more about her father's past. She meets a mysterious fortuneteller who begins to tell her pieces of a story from 1918, when two boys, best friends, had many humorous adventures together until they were separated by the Great War. I liked how the residents of the town in the 1918 story were still around in Abilene's time and how the two stories interconnected. There's gentle humor, a mystery and some suspense involving the mean-spirited mine owners and the townsfolk who work in the mine, and there are lots of details about small town life in the era, including bootlegging "moonshine." I thought there was enough going on to interest a kid today, but it is slowpaced and detailed, and might be better for upper grades to middle school. Beautiful writing, though, and deserving of the Newbery Award.
A beautiful, nearly perfect, work. One that made me think and feel blessed for what I have.
I sobbed quite a bit.
While reading this book I really mourned two things.
One was the loss of a true childhood - the one where kids would adventure out, learn things on their own, explore their world. Most kids rarely leave their house or the comfort of indoors. They don't, because of many factors, visit the postman, the baker, the newspaper office. There is very little sense of community in today's world. Children today certainly do not spend each day of their summer vacation working off debt or picnicking with friends in a tree house. How sad that our future generations cannot write stories of our children with such depth as Clare Vanderpool was able to in [b:Moon over Manifest|8293938|Moon Over Manifest|Clare Vanderpool|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320541883s/8293938.jpg|13142485]. Granted, I wasn't sure that every nuance that Abilene was able to pick up was entirely believable, but enough was that I was totally hooked.
Secondly, I had forgotten, or perhaps in my ignorance and naiveté did not fully comprehend, the trial and pain of being an immigrant during this period of history. In some part of my rational head I would like to think that I understood the difficulties and would not be flippant. Clare Vanderpool painted a beautiful and painful picture of this very thing, and it humbled me greatly.
This one is going on my to-buy list and someday I hope to read it to my boys and that is the highest praise I can doll out.
I sobbed quite a bit.
While reading this book I really mourned two things.
One was the loss of a true childhood - the one where kids would adventure out, learn things on their own, explore their world. Most kids rarely leave their house or the comfort of indoors. They don't, because of many factors, visit the postman, the baker, the newspaper office. There is very little sense of community in today's world. Children today certainly do not spend each day of their summer vacation working off debt or picnicking with friends in a tree house. How sad that our future generations cannot write stories of our children with such depth as Clare Vanderpool was able to in [b:Moon over Manifest|8293938|Moon Over Manifest|Clare Vanderpool|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320541883s/8293938.jpg|13142485]. Granted, I wasn't sure that every nuance that Abilene was able to pick up was entirely believable, but enough was that I was totally hooked.
Secondly, I had forgotten, or perhaps in my ignorance and naiveté did not fully comprehend, the trial and pain of being an immigrant during this period of history. In some part of my rational head I would like to think that I understood the difficulties and would not be flippant. Clare Vanderpool painted a beautiful and painful picture of this very thing, and it humbled me greatly.
This one is going on my to-buy list and someday I hope to read it to my boys and that is the highest praise I can doll out.
I enjoyed this book - fun characters, small town adventures, and an engaging storyline.
OK, so I know this book just won the Newbery. It just didn't do much for me. Sorry.
What a beautiful book. There isn't a whole lot of tension, and whenever I'd put the book down, the main motivator for me to pick it up again was the book group at which I'd be discussing it. But then once I'd pick it up, I would immediately feel enveloped in a vivid place with such authentic characters that it was easy to get right back into the story. Abilene is a "universal" in the children's book world. Now I want to read the adult novel based on Shady's life.