Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest By: Clare Vanderpool

Abilene is sent away to live with an old friend while he finds work for the summer.  She gets to Manifest, Kansas by jumping off the train. She feels alone and sad that her father has sent her away, but finds out that she might be able to learn all about his past! When she finds some letters stashed under the floor of her new room and she meets Miss Sadie. Miss Sadie is an old woman with many stories to tell, she starts by trying to tell Abilene her fortune.  But Abilene owes Miss Sadie some work for breaking her pot so every day she goes to help the woman, only to be told many stories about two boys from the past.  One of them ends up being her father and so Abilene is able to piece together her father’s past and try to make a future of her own.

A beautifully written historical fiction novel. This novel is at the 5^th grade level and told through the eyes of the main character, while going into stories from the past told by Miss Sadie.  I loved how this story went back and forth from the past to the current.  It also used newspaper articles from the towns past to tell what was going on.  Set in 1936 and 1918 the story shows the true nature of the people of the time. I really loved the main character and all that she was going through to make her stronger.

I purchased this book in the Scholastic Book Order
ISBN: 978-0-385-73883-5