A review by portiabturner
A Girl, a Raccoon, and the Midnight Moon by Karen Romano Young

3.0

My feelings were constantly shifting as I read this book. I was immediately pulled in by a book that takes place in a library starring a little girl obsessed with books. I was the weird kid that would give up my recess so that I could stay inside and help the librarian shelve books. I immediately fell in love with the raccoon narrator and the raccoon notes. What I had a hard time with was the character of Pearl herself. I understand that the book was about her coming to a place of acceptance, but she was so mean to others at the beginning. She spoke in such harsh ways that didn't feel like it matched with the rest of the character we had seen. And she continued to make bad choices that didn't fit either for me. It felt like the author wanted the reader to see the change Pearl went through that she hurt the character she had created in the first half. Pearl started to sound and act like a real character more in the second half, saving the book for me.