Moon over Manifest

I read all the Newberry books a few years ago, but they just keep awarding the Newberry Award to new books. Moon Over Manifest is one of these.

Everything in this story is clever and shiny. Vanderpool creates a lovely small town, with several stories running in two different pasts, 1917 and 1936, with intriguing characters including a fortuneteller and a moonshiner and a newspaperwoman. Our main character is trying to fit together all the pieces of the plot to discover who her dad really is and why he is always wandering. There are, intermittently, newspaper articles and letters, too. It's a nicely done book.

This is one of the better Newbery books I've read in recent years. I feel like the selections now seem to focus a lot on being politically correct as opposed to good stories that instill a love of reading in children. The story within a story drew me in, and I found the characters both realistic and sympathetic. I still had a few questions at the end but overall was very satisfied with the ending.

I wasn't even interested in this book, but I had seen enough ads about it that when I saw it in the library I picked it up without even knowing I was doing it. (Ad companies, I am extremely easily influenced.) I am so glad I was brainwashed into reading this book. It was completely charming and I absolutely fell in love with the setting. I loved the flashback style, even though all of it was set in a time and place I know little about. It's also a nice piece of symmetry that another book I'm reading right now takes place around the same time, so that added to my enjoyment. I also enjoyed the ending reveal about the Rattler because I truly had no idea where that was going and I had resigned myself to the idea that it would never be wrapped up.

I only regret that I didn't read this in the summer because it is a perfect summer book for when the temperature is just barely tolerable.