My Summer Under a Crescent Moon

by Marsh Myers (Illustrator)

Two years ago, Quinton Wyatt had the worst summer vacation of his life... but Summer Break '79 looks like a winner. Quint loves his job at a local movie theater, he adores his new baby brother, and he and T.J. Shapleigh aren't just close — they're downright inseparable. But sometimes fate, like a desert monsoon, can roar in and wash away everything. When tragedy strikes, it tests not only Quint's relationship with T.J., but how he sees himself. My Summer Under A Crescent Moon is Book 2 in the Quinton's Curious Mind Series.

249 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2021

About the author

Marsh Myers is a writer, artist, photographer, filmmaker, and an unapologetic nerd.

He is the author of the young adult novels His Life Abiding (2013), The Men in the Trees (2014), My Summer (with Robots) (2018) and My Summer (Under a Crescent Moon) (2021).

In 2022, he had the honor of editing his late mother's memoir, The River Years: A Memoir from the Muddy Banks of Lee's Ferry.

He is currently writing My Summer (and the Song of Cicadas), the third book in the Quinton's Curious Mind Series and a sequel to My Summer (with Robots) (2018) and My Summer (Under a Crescent Moon).

When not pecking away at his laptop with an iced coffee at the ready, Marsh can be found exploring the wilds of the Pacific Northwest or wandering the cluttered aisles of a comic book store. Learn more about Marsh and his work at marshmyers.com.

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tore through this book in about two days! It was so good and I so liked the original book My Summer with Robots. This novel takes place two years after that one and deals mostly with the protag’s (quinton) Relationships as he enters his mid teens. He has his first boyfriend who he’s figuring out He doesn’t have much in common with and a father who started a new family but doesn’t seem to care about them much either. As with the original book everything is told from the POV of Quinton through a very humorous sometimes sarcastic lens. The book has a strong and engaging voice and it’s hard for me to know which of these two books I liked more. My summer under a crescent moon continues this story but it’s also a story that can stand on its own. A great read and I highly recommend it. PS: Quinton‘s new “circle“ of friends are a definite highlight to this book!! ;)

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC!! My Summer Under a Crescent Moon, the follow up to Marsh Myer's first book in the series, My Summer with Robots, does NOT disappoint. Quinton continues to grow, become more confident, yet keep his funny, quick-wit. Myers puts you in the moment through fantastic description, creates real characters you care about, and keeps the pace moving forward. After I read this book, I re-read the first and it holds up and is still so much fun. I recommend reading both...and someday soon, the third book in the series!

[Katherine Babiarz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first book in this series about 2 yrs ago and was excited to see the sequel (teased at the end of Book 1 and out earlier this year.) Like the first, My summer Under a Crescent Moon takes place during the months of the MC's summer vacation from school. Over this 3 month (?) period he goes through some dramatic experiences, including having sex for the first time with his long-time "boyfriend" T.J., then having that relationship fall apart due to it, finding a new group of weird Dungeons and Dragons playing friends, and his continuing saga with his deadbeat father. It's just as funny as book 1, but the themes are more serious more adult, as would be expected. Nicely illustrated with pen and ink drawings too! Definite read!

[Christopher Stanford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the original book a few years ago when it first came out and didn't hear about the follow up til I saw other GR members writing about it. Really glad I checked it out even if it did break my hart! Dang, Marsh Myers knows his characters!!! Quinton continues to be really strong protag that you root for and admire and how he handles some huge disappointments in this book are both believable and warm. His doomed relationship with T.J. killed me, but I think another subplot with bears mentioning is his relationship with his dad. The father is a big child himself who regularly shows that he's not up to the challenge of being anyone's father with Quint stepping in to fill that roll. One more book in the series apparently. Can't wait!!!

[Joan Taggart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is going to have some ******MAJOR SPOILERS****** in it so stop reading now If you haven’t read this book yet. But for serious I mean it!!!! I have many things to say about this wonderful book so if you have read it let's start chatting!

Also, you need to read FIRST or you'll be lost with this sequel and miss out on all the delicious SLOOOOOW BURRRRRN of this series.

First things first...........

Quinton and TJ? They are a SERIOUS THING in this book!! Like the first chapter is them losing their virginity together (!!!!) so it starts off running! If you like me and kept wondering where their school boy crush was headed in Book #1 it has gotten very adult! Unfortunately this leaves Quinten open to some adult trauma When TJ starts to question what are he really wants! No!!!!! TJ YOU IDIOT!

But don't worry.......

When his happiness takes a nosedive, Quinton finds comfort in his new found super nerd friends (Caspian, Andy, Sam, Hamilton)... in a weird but lovable coworker..., and in his mother and sister. I thought the book had some really positive things to say to LGBT youth about being proud of themselves.

Is there another (potential) llove interest in this book? Maybe. I don’t know if anybody had the same vibes about Quinton and a secondary male character that I did???

Is it funny as the first book? Yes!!! but it’s also a lot more heavy..... so you could have tears in your eyes for multiple reasons.

Loved it, cried over it, laughed about it, going to read it a second time. Make sure you read the first book 1st though. Did I mention that??

[Kyle Beltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really strong sequel in a funny touching and surprisingly poignant ya series.

[Booster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read both My Summer with robots and My Summer Under a Crescent Moon together so this is a joint review. These books are in the voice of a gay teen boy named Quint. They are set in the seventies but that doesn't interfere with the reading of them because they feel very much like they could happen today. When the first book begins Quint's newly out of middle school and looking forward to a long, fun summer vacation with his bf Monkey. They had plans to dig an underground fort in the desert near their homes in Tucson Arizona but things start to go wrong when Monkey shows how 2-faced he is. Quint finds he's spending most of the summer alone, except for a weird robot rabbit he encountered at the local dog racing track and who appears to live at the strange house in the desert close to where Quint and Monkey made their fort. The robot actually helps Quint deal with his sadness over his fight with Monkey, but also his fear of going to high school and his bad feeling over how he left his friendship in 6th grade with a boy called TJ. TJ actually plays a bigger role as the first book goes along, because it turns out he and Quint have crushes on each other which was hard for them to express in elementary school od course. When the second book starts, Quint and TJ are now 16 and have actually progressed to a romantic relationship. The fears Quint had in the first book about high school and his self-confidence have mostly vanished and he's really happy to be spending his summer break (both books take place during the same months 2 years apart) with his new boyfriend. While the first book had more fantasy elements in it, the second is more down to earth. It feels appropriately more mature like the character whose telling it is more mature too. While the first book dealt with first puppy love, the second deals with first actual love and all it's ups and downs. Some of the topics in the second book are pretty heavy, but the author / MC makes it all enjoyable through humor, great dialogue and some really interesting supporting characters. There are also some side stories which really fill out Quint's world and make this time and place very really and a place you wouldn't mind spending some time in. I recommend both books!

[Lola Keyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sequel to My Summer with Robots

Two years have passed and what a difference it has made for Quinton Wyatt!! He survived high school despite some early doubts, and even seems to enjoy a certain level of popularity. What's more, he is in a budding romantic relationship with TJ Shapleigh, although both of them are very closeted in 1970s society. It’s witty and sarcastic, the book's / MC's voice has matured from the first novel. He sounds older, wiser, and ultimately more open to pain. I read both books back to back and they were SOOOO pleasant to read. I really thought I got to know the special person in the special place, and my heart ate with him as he faces new trials over his three month summer break.

[Abby K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved, loved, loved this book! It always makes me nervous to pick up the sequel to a book you really liked because you don't know if it will live up to your expectations but this 1 was a a really really strong sequel. Quinton's really finding his own voice and the social circle he's created for himself is a great surprise, weirdly supportive which I was not expecting as he deals with and accepts his sexuality. It was a really nice and heart warming surprise. Now there's a third book in production which will going to be called My Summer and the song of the cicadas. Nervious again. Hopefully it will be the best one yet, especially since it's supposed to close out this series. Read this book!!!!

[Denise R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd been meaning to read this book ever since I finished the My Summer with Robots and I don't know why it took me so long cuz absolutely loved this book! Quinton W. is a character with whom I immediately connected and toward the end he was like an old friend and a best confidante. This book was completely fun and touching and funny and heartbreaking and everything else and I recommend it to everyone. I love Quint and his nerdy friends, and his family, and even T.J. altho and Ireally ended up feeling so sorry and sad for him at the end.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I just say upfront that guys like TJ drive me crazy!!

Date someone for years, have a long history with them, have sex with them (!!), Let them into your home your heart, but in the end insist at all meant nothing? Or do I sound bitter? Maybe it’s because I’ve dated guys like this and so the character of TJ Shapley really ring true for me in my summer under a crescent moon

I don’t care how cute you are TJ you don’t get to treat people like this because you’re more worried about your self image than their feelings.

And poor Quinton. I can’t tell whether I should feel sympathy for him or be angry with him for putting up with us as long as he did, but don’t worry, he finds a self-respect in the end it and I suspect in book 3 will see a very queer and proud Quentin.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first book in this series a couple of years ago and it was really good, a funny blend of memoir, magical realism and fantasy. This sequel has fewer of the fantastical elements as the MC (Quinton) is growing up (now 16) and taking on more adult tasks. Like the first book there are subplots about Quinton's friends and family, but really the book is about his first love with T.J. a boy he's known and had a crush on for years. It's a realistic and touching portrayal of the ups and downs of a first crush, especially in the 1970s when gay kids had a lot to lose. A great sequel for a great series.

[Link · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the whole thing, then I read it again! I read the beginning chapter and then read it twice more, because this was what I was looking forward to somewhere in My Summer with Robots but Mr. Meyers made us wait for it in #2. (Yes, I'm talking about Quinton losing it to TJ in the back of a car.) Okay it is actually kinda romantic in a closet high school boy sort of way. This is a much more complex book than the first, but it's maturity fits its theme and the progression of the characters. 5 stars !!!!

[Andy Grove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like its prequel My Summer with Robots, this novel is fixed in the late-70s world of Quinton Wyatt, a creative writer, fledgling filmmaker, movie theater employee and new boyfriend to his longtime crush TJ. All these things have Quintons summer off to a GREAT start, but TJ's is about to take a turn for the worst and it will rock their fragile relationship to its corps.

[Enno Karis · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Summer with Robots was a book I really loved. This is the second of 3 books in this series and I think this one's as strong if not stronger than the first. Quint is really an awesome leading character and his voice is very unique and strong. An impressive follow up to a really good series of books.

[Del Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the concept behind this book series which is like the school assignment of "what I did during my summer break." summer vacation was always more interesting than the school year anyway and Quint Wyatt has some fun and heartbreaking summer breaks. In this book (#2 with the first being My summer with Robots), he has and loses his first serious relationship and finds his friend circle who help him through it. IT's a very real feeling account of being a gay boy in the 1970s,

[Alec Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The much-anticipated sequel to My summer with Robots.
You’ll fall in love with Quint and his hot boyfriend, Tj, but be prepared to have your heart ripped out as this second act book has all the epic feels.
Some familiar names make an appearance, and new faces also show up. Quint find his inner nerd as a coping mechanism for his heartbreak. Great book.

[That Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this and My Summer with Robots back to back and can't wait for #3

[Charlotte Stance · Rating 5 out of 5]

The intelligent witty and thoughtful sequel to the first book, My Summer with Robots. The MC has to make some tough decisions and face some tough facts as he makes his way thru another fascinating summer break.

[❤❤Romeo Ramos❤❤ · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome second book in a great ya series

[Logan Dezzz · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book, funny and meaningful. It does a good job of illustrating the 70s without going cliche.

[Tim Case · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, sad, uplifting and it fed the nerd who lives inside me!!

[Kimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great follow up to the original!!!

[Andrey L · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good read start to finish!

[Rodrigo Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superior sequel to a strong series beginner!

[George M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this excellent sequel to My summer with robots, Quinton Wyatt embraces his queerness but finds it may now be reciprocated by his long-time crush, T.J.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superior to the first book because the world and the characters were much richer and more nuanced. I'm really looking forward to the concluding novel in this series!!!

[Natalie Cade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this second book!