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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Winner of the 2011 Newbery Award. I think my expectations might have been too high because of this honor, but I was very disappointed in this book. I thought it was too long and too slow, and the alternating between past and present drove me crazy. Not much happened in the present except for the three girls running around asking people about the Rattler. The stories that the diviner told from 1918 were interesting and exciting. The book flap says that the girls go "on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt," but the hunt just seems like an excuse to get the ball rolling on the tales from the past. It feels like throughout the book more and more mysterious elements are added that you think relates to their main mystery, but when you get to the end all the mysteries are solved and many of them are not connected. The ending felt like an afterthought when it was realized that the original mystery (the spy) hadn't been solved yet and was quickly mentioned in the last few pages.
Overall,I didn't hate this book, but it could have been better.
Overall,I didn't hate this book, but it could have been better.
The year is 1936 and twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker has only known life on the road, living from place to place and always keeping an eye out for the next train to jump on to. Suddenly though, her father sends her to a small town called Manifest, Kansas and her life changes forever. In Manifest, Abilene learns more about her father than ever expected and works on solving a few mysteries during a summer of change.
I enjoyed this novel, it was interesting and enthralling. I found myself enjoying both the “present” (1936) as well as the “past” (1918) that Miss Sadie tells to Abilene. Sometimes, when books switch back and forth, I usually enjoy one more than the other, but that was not the case with this book. I found it odd though that Abilene always referred to her father as Gideon and not Dad; maybe this was his way of keeping her at an arm’s reach? Overall, this was a solid read.
This is a great choice for students to read that are learning about the Great Depression time period. It touches on the small town life, as well as a little about the Dust Bowl problem of the Midwest. It also teaches about World War I too. I would not recommend this for a tween book club though only because it is a little long, but if you have a group of kids that you know will be able to stick with a long book then I say go for it!
Awards: ALA Notable Children's Books: 2011, Newbery Medal: 2011, Tennessee: Volunteer State Book Award Nominees: 2013.
Characters: Abilene, Lettie, Ruthanne, Jinx, Ned Gillen, Shady, Miss Sadie, Hattie Mae Harper.
Subjects: Coming of age, Great Depression, Historical fiction, Secrets, World War I.
References: Book information and award information retrieved from www.bwibooks.com. Accessed on September 26, 2011.
Moon Over Manifest. (2010, September 15). Retrieved September 26, 2011, from Kirus Reviews.
Clare Vanderpool. Retrieved September 25, 2011, from http://www.clarevanderpool.com/.
I enjoyed this novel, it was interesting and enthralling. I found myself enjoying both the “present” (1936) as well as the “past” (1918) that Miss Sadie tells to Abilene. Sometimes, when books switch back and forth, I usually enjoy one more than the other, but that was not the case with this book. I found it odd though that Abilene always referred to her father as Gideon and not Dad; maybe this was his way of keeping her at an arm’s reach? Overall, this was a solid read.
This is a great choice for students to read that are learning about the Great Depression time period. It touches on the small town life, as well as a little about the Dust Bowl problem of the Midwest. It also teaches about World War I too. I would not recommend this for a tween book club though only because it is a little long, but if you have a group of kids that you know will be able to stick with a long book then I say go for it!
Awards: ALA Notable Children's Books: 2011, Newbery Medal: 2011, Tennessee: Volunteer State Book Award Nominees: 2013.
Characters: Abilene, Lettie, Ruthanne, Jinx, Ned Gillen, Shady, Miss Sadie, Hattie Mae Harper.
Subjects: Coming of age, Great Depression, Historical fiction, Secrets, World War I.
References: Book information and award information retrieved from www.bwibooks.com. Accessed on September 26, 2011.
Moon Over Manifest. (2010, September 15). Retrieved September 26, 2011, from Kirus Reviews.
Clare Vanderpool. Retrieved September 25, 2011, from http://www.clarevanderpool.com/.
A Newberry Award winner (2011) set during the Great Depression (with flashbacks to WWI). Abilene has spent her life riding the rails with her father and never having anywhere to call home. When she turns twelve, he sends her to live in Manifest, his childhood home.
Once there, she finds a hidden box with an odd collection of seemingly worthless items and old letters. She gets curious and sets out to solve the mystery of these hidden items. Along the way, she uncovers many secrets, large and small, about Manifest and its inhabitants.
Beautifully written historical fiction about a small Kansas town, that also has a lot to say about the power of stories and the way they connect us to each other.
Once there, she finds a hidden box with an odd collection of seemingly worthless items and old letters. She gets curious and sets out to solve the mystery of these hidden items. Along the way, she uncovers many secrets, large and small, about Manifest and its inhabitants.
Beautifully written historical fiction about a small Kansas town, that also has a lot to say about the power of stories and the way they connect us to each other.
Abliene Tucker is sent away to Manifest KS for the summer as he works as an initerient railroad hand. Abliene doesn't understand why she's being sent away. Sent to Manifest KS where she soon gets into digging up the stories of the past, particularly the summer & fall of 1918. A delightful cast & characters that'll stick with you after the story's ended.
I read this book when I was younger about seven years ago. I've got to say, it's held up. The older I've gotten, the more critical I've gotten of books and content in general and I think this is still incredible. It's a great story for both children and adults and is honestly just a really enjoyable read, a great dose of historical fiction, and an example of intricate and complex storytelling.
Moon Over Manifest is a beautiful story. The writing is exquisite. It is the type of writing you want to savor, tasting the flavors slowly with no rush to finish. The taste lingers in your mouth in between bites. It is a wonderful taste.
The story reminded me of an oil painting, each brush stroke deliberate, where every word matters and each color adds life. In paintings everything painted has a purpose, it is not added to make the picture look busy, it is there to make the painting beautiful. That is how Vanderpool’s writing is.
There are many books with language that is beautiful, where the words are unique and different. But some of those books grow wordy, and then reading it, which is supposed to be enjoyable, stretches out in an unfamiliar forced way. We grow fatigued with the stressed efforts to use a wide vocabulary that fits unnaturally.
Vanderpool didn’t force her words, she painted them. She added them to the painting. Slowly, deliberately. Piecing them together like puzzle pieces destined to match.
The story was wonderful. It was like a breathe of fresh air. Lush and alive. Pretty soon, I believed the story. I was there with Abilene, sitting in Miss Sadie’s parlor, hearing her voice grow thick and syrupy as she delved to the past slowing spinning a coat of many colors.
I read in doses at first, then gulped it in reveling in the language, completing my Thanksgiving day in a plethora of words. The story didn’t end when I closed the book though. I kept on coming back to it. It lives on. It has left a legacy. It is history come alive. Jinx, Abilene, Gideon, Shady… they lived. They breathed, laughed, cried, grew… and I grew with them. If ever a book lived, this one soared.
The story reminded me of an oil painting, each brush stroke deliberate, where every word matters and each color adds life. In paintings everything painted has a purpose, it is not added to make the picture look busy, it is there to make the painting beautiful. That is how Vanderpool’s writing is.
There are many books with language that is beautiful, where the words are unique and different. But some of those books grow wordy, and then reading it, which is supposed to be enjoyable, stretches out in an unfamiliar forced way. We grow fatigued with the stressed efforts to use a wide vocabulary that fits unnaturally.
Vanderpool didn’t force her words, she painted them. She added them to the painting. Slowly, deliberately. Piecing them together like puzzle pieces destined to match.
The story was wonderful. It was like a breathe of fresh air. Lush and alive. Pretty soon, I believed the story. I was there with Abilene, sitting in Miss Sadie’s parlor, hearing her voice grow thick and syrupy as she delved to the past slowing spinning a coat of many colors.
I read in doses at first, then gulped it in reveling in the language, completing my Thanksgiving day in a plethora of words. The story didn’t end when I closed the book though. I kept on coming back to it. It lives on. It has left a legacy. It is history come alive. Jinx, Abilene, Gideon, Shady… they lived. They breathed, laughed, cried, grew… and I grew with them. If ever a book lived, this one soared.
A great YA novel flashing back to WWI and set in 1936 Kansas. Learned about orphan trains bundling East Coast orphans to be adopted in the West and Midwest. Protaganist reminds me a bit of Scout.