Moon Over Manifest

1. Bibliography

Vanderpool, Claire. 2010. MOON OVER MANIFEST. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 9780385738835

2. Summary

Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past. Through the hot, dry days, Abilene searches for traces of her father in the town's history, some old letters, and a stack of newspapers from 1917. Abilene desperately wants to be with her father and will try anything to get him to Manifest.

3. Critical Analysis

The story is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, and sometimes poignantly sad, but page after page, it is hard to put down. Ingeniously plotted and gracefully told, this father/daughter tale will resonate with any reader who’s ever wondered whether those old family stories really tell the whole truth. Prohibition and labor relations in the coal mining industry are interwoven with the current issues of 1936, particularly the ongoing Great Depression. Abilene and readers get so caught up in the past in this richly detailed, splendidly written novel that they easily make the transition between the Depression and WWI eras and long to learn more about the town that once was. Readers will love guessing how Abilene's dad fits into all the stories and townspeople's memories.

4. Awards and Review Excerpts

- AWARDS -

John Newbery Medal, 2011 Winner United States

- REVIEW EXCERPTS -

KIRKUS review: “Readers will love guessing how Abilene's dad fits into all the stories and townspeople's memories. The absolute necessity of story as a way to redemption and healing past wounds is at the heart of this beautiful debut, and readers will cherish every word up to the heartbreaking yet hopeful and deeply gratifying ending.”

THE BULLITEN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS review: “In this debut novel, Vanderpool creates a fictional town with a fully believable history, populated with characters as notable for their warmth as their eccentricity. Each member of the sprawling cast is so robustly developed that the summary list of characters from 1918 and 1936 provided by the author is hardly needed.”

5. Connections

Have students make predictions throughout the story as to who Jinx is, how Abilene is going to get her father to come to Manifest, etc.

Explore historical parts of the story more in depth such as World War I, the Spanish influenza, Prohibition, etc.)

Write an alternative scheme that Abilene could use to get her father to come to Manifest.