by Clare Vanderpool
Delacorte Press, 2010. 351 pgs
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $16.99
Annotation: Abilene searches for traces of her father in the rich history of the town of Manifest.
Summary: It's been just the two of them since Abilene can remember. Her mother left her father, Gideon, and her when she was just a toddler. But when Gideon gets a job on a railroad as she nears her twelfth birthday, he declares it unfit for a girl and sends her off to spend the summer in Manifest, Kansas--the town he grew up in. Abilene's to stay with Shady, the town preacher and an old friend of her father's. When she arrives, she's forced to attend the last day of school, although Abilene can't see the point as she won't be here come fall, but the teacher gives her an assignment anyway--an essay exploring the meaning of the town's name and it's significance. Thrusting that chore to the back of her mind, throughout the summer Abilene finds adventure and friendship in Manifest and visits Miss Sadie, the town's occultist, nearly everyday. Piece by piece Miss Sadie unravels Manifest's glorious, complicated history, focusing on the antics of Ned and Jinks, who were two of the town's most engaging, spirited boys. However, the town seems to hold lots of secrets and Abilene yearns to learn more about her father, but no one seems to want to talk about him and Miss Sadie's stories hold no mention of Gideon. Even though she's perplexed by her father's absence from history, Abilene comes to love Manifest and slowly starts to understand the town's nuances and eventually discovers the truth of her father's past. So when summer ends Abilene has more than enough material to write her essay, because she's learned all of Manifest's secrets and can now tell them from the perspective of someone who belongs.
Evaluation: As a debut author, Vanderpool has written the loveliest of books. Set in the great depression the book alternates between present day 1936 and the town's past in 1918. The backstory is revealed through old newspaper clippings and Miss Sadie's reminiscences until the two eras gracefully intertwine and their secrets made "manifest". An intriguing plot provides lots of pent up curiousity and keeps the story moving, but the real treasure is Vanderpool's characters. Abilene is naive and spunky, dignified and endearing. The rest of Manifest's population is ripe with a well-fleshed supporting cast, from Miss Sadie the occultist and Shady the preacher and saloon keeper to Sister Redempta the schoolteacher and Hattie Mae, the town reporter. All have their place and contribute to the book's full-bodied charm. It's delicious and funny with an excellent voice. The historical setting is spot on and it's not difficult to imagine the place nor the time period because Vanderpool has evoked it so naturally. However poor economically, Manifest is rich in relationships and you'd count yourself lucky to live in such a close knit community.
Significance: Moon over Manifest explores the complicated history of small town life, how living so closely produces a necessary interdependence that provides an opportunity for love and the possibility of hurt. Even when an entire town offers holds no blame, it's often hard to forgive oneself.
Personal Choice: I can never resist the allure of alliteration.
Awards: Newbery Award Winner, 2011 / Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Fiction from the Western Writers of America, 2011 / Top Ten Historical Fiction Novels (ALA), 2011
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