Customer Review - Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest
by Clare Vanderpool [YA Vanderpool]

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool is not the type of book one should fit into a busy schedule. It isn't an easy read, but should have a select audience. The first reason that Moon Over Manifest makes for a difficult read is the huge cast of characters. In fact, before you even get to the title page, you're going to encounter a character list. This alone should serve as warning that this is a different type of book. If that's not bad enough, you'll notice most of these characters aren't twelve-year-olds like Abilene but instead are adults. At times, I felt not only overwhelmed but bored. The second reason that Moon Over Manifest makes for a difficult read is the multiple subplots. Soon after the storyteller Miss Sadie is introduced, the typeface temporarily changes to signal the start of a second story. This story is about Jinx, whose father set him up him to take the blame for the murder of a man. Actually, there's yet another font change, because there's a third story about Ned, who sets off to war because of Jinx but ends up getting killed in battle. With all these stories going on, it might come as no surprise that Moon Over Manifest is over 300 pages long. At times, reading Moon Over Manifest felt akin to scaling a mountain of infinite height. If you can get to the heart of its story, Moon Over Manifest has a lot to offer. I enjoyed the adventures of Jinx, the boy who felt as if he cursed everyone he touched. The adult side of me at least also gained an appreciation for how townsfolk overcame their fears and differences to stand up against corruption. However, Moon Over Manifest is like a stew, which needs time to simmer in your thoughts. Young people who enjoy classics might enjoy plummeting into its depths. Beyond that, Vanderpool will probably find her biggest appeal among mature readers. -- review submitted by Allison H.-F. - a customer of the Bennett Martin Public Library

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New Customer Reviews appear regularly in the pages of the BookGuide web site, particularly during the Summer Reading Program. You can visit the Customer Reviews page to see them all and/or submit your own, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually as we receive them.