MEET THE MOON

Jody is hovering on the cusp of puberty in 1970 New Jersey when her mother dies; an eventful year follows.

The fatal car accident changes everything for the Morans: 13-year-old Jody, her three sisters, little brother, and their newly minted widower dad. Even for an affectionate, easygoing family like theirs, adapting to abrupt, tragic loss is uniquely challenging. There’s a steep learning curve; mistakes are made. Their first housekeeper is mentally unstable, and the second has substance-abuse issues, so all are relieved when their maternal grandmother moves in to help. Parenting rules change: Jody and Claire, 15, get their ears pierced. Claire, having acquired a boyfriend, becomes Jody’s role model and sometime guide to boys and her changing, womanly body. Recovering from loss is an uneven, occasionally irrational journey. As the shock subsides and daily life reasserts its primacy, Jody finds herself evaluating unattached women as possible stepmoms. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ book On Death and Dying becomes Jody’s touchstone for interpreting her grief. Malawista’s quietly powerful novel consists of an accumulation of minor, well-observed details that together create a montage of adolescence in difficult times limned with pointillist precision. The believable, refreshingly average Morans are good company. Jody’s a likable guide for adolescent readers experiencing irreversible loss even as they negotiate the exciting, seemingly infinite possibilities of adulthood. Characters default to White.

A timely look at moving through loss that’s told with insight, compassion, and wry humor.