The Moon and I

by Betsy Byars

Betsy Byars, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Summer of the Swans , presents this delightful and inspiring memoir, which also offers an insightful look at her writing process. The Moon that inspires this memoir isn't the one found in the night sky, but instead Bety’s eponymous reptile companion—a huge (and harmless) blacksnake that she found in the rafters of her porch. Using this serendipitous meeting as a springboard for an exploration of her life and her art, Betsy Byar’s memoir is filled with energy, wit, and joy. She shows how "the good scraps" of her life, from a bully named Bubba to a gift-wrapped dime, weave into her work. An ALA Notable Book “Pure pleasure.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Extraordinarily skillful. A must.”— Kirkus (stared review)

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Childrens, Juvenile, Biography Memoir

112 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Betsy Byars was an American author of children's books. She wrote over sixty books for young people. Her first novel was published in 1962. Her novel Summer of the Swans won the 1971 Newbery Medal. She also received a National Book Award for Young People's Literature for The Night Swimmers and an Edgar Award for Wanted ... Mud Blossom!!

Daughters Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers are also writers.

Reviews

[Annie]

My hope: that this book might be mildly inspirational and amusing. My fear: that it would be one of those mundane "story of my bleak childhood" writer stories.
This book is delightful. Betsy Byars has a charming voice, and I am surprised that I have only read her books about the Golly Sisters! Her passions, for popcorn, snakes, airplanes, and writing, are winningly described. I have an unfortunate habit of reading the first couple chapters of a book and the setting it down. After Byars' first few chapters, I knew I needed to read the rest of it. At once cozy and adventurous, "The Moon and I" made me yearn for my own pet snake, log cabin, and computer whose only function was as a word processor.

[Chanel]

I remember reading this for my creative writing class in college. Re-reading it now, it reminds me of how compelling the genre of creative nonfiction has always been to me. Reading books and stories and essays like this always make me want to be a writer.

[Jennifer Ritchie]

This book is a charming memoir about the author and her pet snake, Moon. Interspersed with the story of Moon, she shares several other amusing anecdotes from her life and explains her writing process. It is light-hearted, delightful, and quite funny at times! I picked it up at a book sale recently because my twelve year old daughter loves snakes; it was even better than I expected it would be! I think anyone from about third grade on up to adults could enjoy this book. (I did!)

[Claire Lieberman]

Great example of how autobiography can be written around a central theme. Wonderful stories. Makes you want to read the other works of the author.

[Jessica Morgan]

I absolutely loved this quick inspiring little memoir. So glad I read it!

[Barbara]

June 2025: It's July 2025 and I just did another reread of The Moon and I by Betsy Byars. We have a visiting rat snake living under our back deck. It once again reminded me of one of my all time favorite kids' books, The Moon and I by Betsy Byars. My feelings are the same as the review below. I'm delighted to have the visitor and a chance to revisit a favorite book.

July 2020:I just reread The Moon and I by Betsy Byars because we have a snake in our yard. It reminded me of one of the lesser known, but my all time favorite Betsy Byars book. I used the book when I was teaching third graders writing. They loved the book each year and so did I. This reread did not disappoint. I laughed and remembered a much loved book. I hope some of my former students will remember the book some day, too.

[Lacy]

I really enjoyed this book. I love the way she writes. I feel like I am there with her. It was a really enjoyable story about a blacksnake she meets near her cabin and the experiences she has with it and because of it. She also explains all that she goes through and where she gets ideas when trying to write her books. What a cool lady! I LOVED the ending. (Also, I love snakes, so I found this book to be very enjoyable.)

[Reaganos360]

Me and my friends pick this as one of you books to read bc the author is my friends great grandma. I honestly really enjoyed this book! It’s not like any other book I’ve read before, and I find the best way to describe it as a palette cleanser. Great for when you’re tired of the books you’ve been reading and need a little change.

[Rackle]

Read this one aloud with my students (our first chapter book as a class) and we really enjoyed it! Fun easy read and was a great book for our class- we themed our class Halloween Pumpkin off of the book! They have already requested another Betsy Byars book for next time!

[Jen]

This was a read-aloud in an English 6 class I was co-teaching. The leading teacher chose this book & students pulled out "Great Snake Words" to show details & examples of figurative language.

[Shelby]

Read this for class!
I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. A memoir about an author and a snake she found. I’m not even a an of snakes but I was charmed by this narrative.

[Michael P. Clemens]

Betsy Byars forges a one-sided friendship with a snake, muses on the importance of frozen Snickers bars to the writing process, and offers advice about gathering "scraps." The book that finally tipped me over into trying my hand at being an (amateur) author. A humorous, breezy ready -- if you're familiar with her youth fiction, you won't be surprised -- and sly and enjoyable to adults. The snake-in-a-bag chapter ("Hep") always has me laughing out loud.

[Stephanie Tuell]

this book has absolutely nothing to do with the moon. this is a story about betsy byars life. she tells about some points in her life that inspired some of her books. and she explains how a snake made her think about it all. this is the first book i've read by her. if all of her books are writen like this, then i would love to read others.

[Sarah]

A quiet, pleasant little book that will give insight into the writing process for any child who dreams of creating her own stories. Byars weaves the stories of her past into her present day writing, granting access in a calm, empowering way.

[Judy W]

I'm not as sure a child would like it. Author tells a current story that an adult would find humorous!

[SHEEN]

seem good and easy to follow. Brings insight to the author's point of view.

[Barb Struwe]

An inspiration to authors young and old with a twist of herpetology.

[Annette Steele]

I read this in a day. Such an enjoyable book. Now I want to try Betsy's 36 other books to see if they are as good!

[Abby Hastings]

So cute! I love snakes and writing. If you don’t love these things, this might not be for you