Tween Tuesday was started by GreenBeanTeenQueen and it highlights perfect for the tween set. Today I'm looking at:
Moon Over Manifest
by Clare Vanderpool
This is the 2011 Newberry winner, and I think it looks pretty good. My daughter read it (age 11), and she liked it. She said it was slow moving - a more thinking book, but in the end she liked it. As with most Newberrys, this one isn't for all readers. My daughter reads a ton - all kinds of books - so I knew she'd be ok with this one even it it was slow moving. My more reluctant readers might have a harder time with it.
From Goodreads
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.
Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”
Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.
Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool’s debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption.
I wish more people would read this one... so that they could tell me about it :) I feel like, if it's a Newbery - it's got to be good. But I definitely get that "slow moving" vibe from it. I really just need to psych up and read it for myself!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool cover. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the middle of this now and am enjoying sinking into the community of Manifest. I meet monthly with a group of local children's authors, and we're discussing this next time we're together.
ReplyDeleteOh, I absolutely adored this book. I agree it may not be for everyone (I tried to push it on one of my CPs and she couldn't get into it), but I loved it way back in Sept 2010 when I read the ARC and I knew it had Newbery potential.
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of book I would have loved as a 10-yr-old. It's one of those rare books where you reach the end and realize what's really been happening and then you want to start all over at the beginning.
I'm stil on hold for this at my library. I do think it's going to be a bit of a hard sell, but it'll have its readers for sure.
ReplyDeleteI've been sort of looking at this book. Maybe I should stir myself and get a copy to read.
ReplyDelete