Rating: 3 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (Interesting, a bit reminiscent of the Crank novels fittingly enough.)
Genre: Young adult
Genre: Young adult
Publication Date: February 2, 2012
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Page Count: 182 p.
Add it: Goodreads
After a Hurricane Katrina destroyed her own home and her father decided they needed to stop living with their aunt, Laurel ends up in a new town. Here she meets T-Boom, who introduces her to meth. She instantly loves how it feels, how it takes all her thoughts and pain away. Soon enough it's all Laurel wants. She abandons her family and takes to the streets. She's barley fifteen, but this is how her life has ended up. She doesn't want help, she doesn't want to face her problems or her family—she just wants moon. Then a mysterious stranger named Moses shows up. He paints portraits on the sides of buildings of the children people have lost to meth. With his help and her family, Laurel might start to clean herself up.
Alright, why does she call meth "moon"? It never mentions an origin and she's the only one who calls it that. That bugged me a bit, and I feel like I am missing something. This was an interesting story about a girl so taken by grief, that she'll do anything to try to forget. Fans of Crank might enjoy this one except it is not written in verse. Besides his name, I really appreciated Moses. I felt the name was a little too much (biblically). This was a quick and enlightening read. I liked that Laurel had such an intense tragedy which was why she was so eager to accept this drug. It made a lot of sense. I also liked that it showed her enjoying life on meth, even the times when she was low. Then, alternately it was good that Jacqueline Woodson showed that Laurel wasn't really happy, she was just coasting by—trying to ride the high forever. By the end of the novel though, I still didn't have a whole grip on who Laurel was. Maybe it was because she was high most of the novel. She was bland. This was a good book though and one you should check out.
First Line:
"It's almost winter again and the cold moves through this town like water washing over us."
Favorite Line:
"I celebrated my fifteenth birthday sitting in the rain begging for money."
I like Hopkins books, but since this one is quite different, even though it sounds similar, I probably won't be picking it up. Great review though, I am glad you enjoyed it :)
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