MMGM - Shooting the Moon

SHOOTING THE MOON

by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

2009

 

This story takes place during the Vietnam War. Twelve-year-old Jamie and her brother have both dreamed of following in the footsteps of their father, the Colonel. She is thrilled when her brother enlists in the army and is being sent to Vietnam. Her parents aren't as thrilled, because unlike Jamie, they know what the consequences could be. 

She looks forward to letters from her brother, but instead of writing to her, he sends rolls of film to her to develop on a regular basis. 

A lot of the story takes place in a rec room on the base where she volunteers at during the summer. She plays gin rummy with the soldier who works there. A  friendship grows between the two and slowly Jamie grows to dislike the war and worries about her brother and that her friend might also be sent to Vietnam.

The end is a little abrupt and different, but all in all satisfying.

The Horn Book said "complicated and unpredictable -- just like war."

This historical fiction was a fairly quick read. I read it in one day. If you are interested in the Vietnam War and that time period, I would recommend it.

Click here to check out my post on Darlene Beck-Jacobson's web page today. It is about the research I did on my book, Duck and Cover.


Happy reading!

Join others reviewing middle grade books over on Always in the Middle.

A Book Review - Fever 1793

I write. I write all the time. But I also squeeze in time to read.

You become a better writer by reading what you write.


I read in the evenings, I read when my husband and I are riding around and I read whenever I can find the time.

I recently read Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.
I had heard of this book and always wanted to read it.
(In case you don't know, I love historical fiction)
It is for young adults and has an appendix in the back giving information about the facts of the time period and famous people touched by the fever.

Here is the blurb from the back:
During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out.
Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.

If you like historical fiction, I feel you will like this book. It is very detailed in sections about how life was like during that time period. You can tell she did a lot of research. It is so sad they did not know how yellow fever was caught and spread.
When they bled people, it just made chills go down me.
When the characters mentioned swatting mosquitoes away from their faces, I cringed.

Have you read this book? Did you enjoy it?

What have you read lately?



Janet Smart
author of Duck and Cover

Ida B

As you can see from my side bar, I've been reading Ida B by Katherine Hannigan. This was her first novel.

I'm a little behind. I was loaned this book last year by a writer friend of mine. She handed it to me and said, "Read this." Well, Cheryl, it took me a while, but I read it.

I'm not a book reviewer, but I thought I'd give you my thoughts about this book. If you follow this blog there's a good chance you are a writer (and reader) of children's books, so here goes.

Ida B. is a very unique girl. She is in the fourth grade and she has a mind of her own, so to speak. Even in Kindergarten she appeared to be very smart for her age. But her and kindergarten didn't agree with each other. She liked to make schedules, she liked to think about things and she liked being called Ida B. But the teacher would have none of that. She insisted on calling her Ida and not telling her when it would be 'time' for all the fun stuff. Ida B. says "Could you tell me now so I can make a schedule?" She wondered if she was in a class for bad children and her punishment included losing her name and never being able to make a plan again. She was so unhappy her parents started to home school Ida B, which made her very happy.

She stayed at home with her dog, her cat, the stream, the mountain, and her trees. She named the trees and talked to them every day.
Her mother gets sick and they have to sell part of their land and she has to attend public school. Needless to say, Ida B. was very unhappy. Her heart became cold and hard and she made herself and everyone around her miserable.

This was the part of the book I was not too crazy about. I found it hard to like her. In my opinion she was a very smart child and should have realized what she was doing would only make matters worse. When her mother was sick and needed her the most, she ignored her and wouldn't have anything to do with her. But that's just my opinion (I guess it's the mother in me coming out) and I guess there wouldn't be a story without Ida B.'s struggle within herself. Right?

I loved the ending chapters when she realized apologizing was like spring cleaning. First of all, you don't want to do it. . . Once you get started, though, you find out that you can't just clean out one room and be done with it; you have to do the whole house or you're tracking dirt from one place to the other. I think there is a lesson there for all of us.

In her own way she not only apologizes to Claire and her parents, but to the trees, the stream and the mountain and her cold black heart disappeared.

The book was well written. I thought the transition before and after she wrote of Ida's short stay in kindergarten could have been better, but other than that she did a wonderful job.
She is very good at description and detail.

I'm not sure if I would have chosen the sub title. . . and Her plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World. It doesn't exactly fit the story.

All in all it was a wonderful first novel for Katherine Hannigan and I only hope one day to do half as well.