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HARPER AND MOON

Name: HARPER AND MOON
Author: Ramon Royal Ross
ISBN: 0-689-31803-0

by Ramon Royal Ross ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1993

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Set in Washington's Walla Walla Valley during WW II, a fine second novel about the unusual friendship between Harper, son of a fruit grower, and the somewhat older Moon—inarticulate, half-wild son of abusive parents, orphaned in early adolescence and living no one knows how or where. At 12, Harper discovers the body of Olinger, an old family friend, outside the snowbound mountain cabin where he lived alone. In shock and hypothermic, Harper is rescued by Moon, who—suspected of murdering Olinger—is jailed, but escapes. Harper finds him, near death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and rescues him in turn. Exonerated, Moon finally finds a home in Olinger's cabin. The themes of trust, loyalty, and responsibility here are beautifully developed. There are marvelous set pieces (a summer idyll in the mountains; a scene when Harper is run over by a tractor; another when he finds Moon's life story in dioramas made from bits of wire and paper), and a grand stream-of- consciousness passage depicting Harper's deteriorating mental state after he discovers Olinger's body, as exhaustion and cold take their toll. Vivid storytelling, a rock-solid sense of time and place, memorable, splendidly realized characters: likely to be read in one sitting, under covers by flashlight if necessary. (Fiction. 10+)

Pub Date: April 30, 1993

ISBN: 0-689-31803-0

Page Count: 182

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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A YEAR DOWN YONDER

From the Grandma Dowdel series , Vol. 2

by Richard Peck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

Year-round fun.

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Set in 1937 during the so-called “Roosevelt recession,” tight times compel Mary Alice, a Chicago girl, to move in with her grandmother, who lives in a tiny Illinois town so behind the times that it doesn’t “even have a picture show.”

This winning sequel takes place several years after A Long Way From Chicago (1998) leaves off, once again introducing the reader to Mary Alice, now 15, and her Grandma Dowdel, an indomitable, idiosyncratic woman who despite her hard-as-nails exterior is able to see her granddaughter with “eyes in the back of her heart.” Peck’s slice-of-life novel doesn’t have much in the way of a sustained plot; it could almost be a series of short stories strung together, but the narrative never flags, and the book, populated with distinctive, soulful characters who run the gamut from crazy to conventional, holds the reader’s interest throughout. And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. The first-person narration is infused with rich, colorful language—“She was skinnier than a toothpick with termites”—and Mary Alice’s shrewd, prickly observations: “Anybody who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.”

Year-round fun. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000

ISBN: 978-0-8037-2518-8

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE BEST MAN
by Richard Peck

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THE MOUSE WITH THE QUESTION MARK TAIL
by Richard Peck ; illustrated by Kelly Murphy

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SECRETS AT SEA
by Richard Peck illustrated by Kelly Murphy

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THE SCHOOL STORY

by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Brian Selznick ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2001

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A world-class charmer, Clements (The Janitor’s Boy, 2000, etc.) woos aspiring young authors—as well as grown up publishers, editors, agents, parents, teachers, and even reviewers—with this tongue-in-cheek tale of a 12-year-old novelist’s triumphant debut. Sparked by a chance comment of her mother’s, a harried assistant editor for a (surely fictional) children’s imprint, Natalie draws on deep reserves of feeling and writing talent to create a moving story about a troubled schoolgirl and her father. First, it moves her pushy friend Zoe, who decides that it has to be published; then it moves a timorous, second-year English teacher into helping Zoe set up a virtual literary agency; then, submitted pseudonymously, it moves Natalie’s unsuspecting mother into peddling it to her waspish editor-in-chief. Depicting the world of children’s publishing as a delicious mix of idealism and office politics, Clements squires the manuscript past slush pile and contract, the editing process, and initial buzz (“The Cheater grabs hold of your heart and never lets go,” gushes Kirkus). Finally, in a tearful, joyous scene—carefully staged by Zoe, who turns out to be perfect agent material: cunning, loyal, devious, manipulative, utterly shameless—at the publication party, Natalie’s identity is revealed as news cameras roll. Selznick’s gnomic, realistic portraits at once reflect the tale’s droll undertone and deftly capture each character’s distinct personality. Terrific for flourishing school writing projects, this is practical as well as poignant. Indeed, it “grabs hold of yourheart and never lets go.” (Fiction. 10-12)