Moon Over Manifest in ENGL 596 / EDCI 551

Mar 12, 2015 Morgan rated it liked it

After reading Niavigating Early by Clare Vanderpool in the fall, I expected something similar. VAnderpool did not disappoint, exactly. We follow Abilene Tucker as she explores Manifest, Kansas, tries to find her daddy Gideon Tucker in this dying old town, and unravles the mystery of The Rattler. In ways, Moon Over Manifest echoed the mystery Vanderpool exhibited in Navigating Early. It had female characters as opposed to the male cast of Navigating Early.

What turned me off to this novel was its ...more

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Mar 11, 2015 Hannah Alexander rated it liked it

Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool was a very interesting concept, but I do not believe I am its biggest fan. I am somewhat biased though, I do not appreciate mystery-like novels (I use that term very loosely) the same way others do; I like knowing, even if the characters do not. Part of what I enjoy about novels is character development throughout, and I feel as though the mystery element did not allow for the same kind of relationship with characters. Also, there were so many characters to ...more

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Mar 09, 2015 Mykala rated it really liked it

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool follows Abilene as she struggles with the absence of her father as she finds herself in a whole new town, Manifest. Abilene is headed for the town where her father grew up and where she will stay for the summer while he works on the railroad. Once there the summer unfolds as Abilene tries to connect with her father’s past through members of the community. Mystery ensues as the town medium tells Abilene stories about the KKK, bootlegging, influenza outbreaks Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool follows Abilene as she struggles with the absence of her father as she finds herself in a whole new town, Manifest. Abilene is headed for the town where her father grew up and where she will stay for the summer while he works on the railroad. Once there the summer unfolds as Abilene tries to connect with her father’s past through members of the community. Mystery ensues as the town medium tells Abilene stories about the KKK, bootlegging, influenza outbreaks, and runaways. Along with her friends Abilene sets out to discover the town’s secrets including the identity of the Rattler spy and Manifest’s history. Set during the great depression this story presents us with a curious, bright, and slightly mischievous Abilene whose narrative draws you in.

The range of characters in this novel brings dimension and depth to the overall development of the story. The underlying theme, that people are often more complex than they appear to be, played out as the novel unfolded. We get to see multiple sides and layers of the characters especially when stories are told about Manifest before the great depression. I think the characters in this book, specifically Miss Sadie, aide Abilene in her journey of self-discovery and also speak to the broader audience about identity evolution. Not only are we ever changing but there can be great outcomes to difficult situations if we choose to pursue them.

I think that this book fits several of the young adult characteristics in that it’s plot driven, uses accessible language, and deals with social and environmental issues as they related to the adolescents. Even though Abilene is on the younger age spectrum at 12 years old I still feel I was able to connect with her in various points throughout the story. I think her story can be an access point for young readers who connect with a strong female voice and want to read about a past time period in American History.

I enjoyed the added elements of the book such as the newspaper columns, the change in font when stories were being told about the past, and linked connections between the advertised products in the paper and the letters from the warfront. These additions added to the sense of mystery and made me feel like I was doing the detective work right alongside Abilene in trying to connect the dots. The supportive characters in this novel made it safe to explore the mystery of Manifest and I think readers of various ages would thoroughly enjoy this novel.
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Mar 11, 2015 Nancy C rated it liked it

In Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool, we follow the adventures of 12 year old Abilene Tucker, the new kid to the town of Manifest. She is sent their by her papa, Gideon Tucker. Before Manifest, Abilene lived a sort of hobo life—jumping from town to town, train to train. Her papa sends her to Manifest when Abilene has a near death experiences—he starts to think that the train hopping life isn’t the kind of life a soon-to-be-a-teenager girl should be living.

In Manifest, she is left under th In Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool, we follow the adventures of 12 year old Abilene Tucker, the new kid to the town of Manifest. She is sent their by her papa, Gideon Tucker. Before Manifest, Abilene lived a sort of hobo life—jumping from town to town, train to train. Her papa sends her to Manifest when Abilene has a near death experiences—he starts to think that the train hopping life isn’t the kind of life a soon-to-be-a-teenager girl should be living.

In Manifest, she is left under the care of Pastor Shady Howard, the temporary fill-in for the local Baptist church who has been “temporary” for 14 years. In Shady’s home, Abilene finds a box under the floor boards filled with relics and letters from someone else’s past. She then decides to figure out who’s they are and who is the mysterious Rattler that is mentioned in the letters. At the same time, she is also trying to figure out why her papa sent her to the town of Manifest. Abilene looks for any possible physical evidence or marks that her papa might have left behind, that prove he lived in the town of Manifest at some point, before becoming a train-hopper.

At the beginning of her search, Abilene meets the mysterious diviner, Miss Sadie. She runs into some trouble with Miss Sadie and ends up having to work for her all summer long. This is where the stories behind relics and who the writer of the letters in the box starts to be revealed.

The story is rather slow to start and there are many characters to remember and who went where or does what. The most interesting parts of the story are the stories that Miss Sadie tells Abilene. I think they are more adventurous and intriguing than what happens in the present to Abilene. I also really enjoyed the style of the novel—a story within a story, new paper articles and letters. I also really liked how when Miss Sadie was about to start a story, the end of the chapter started with a line or two of what she was going to tell and then on the next page was the full on story for the next chapter—after the story, we had the letter. The structure of the novel was very neat and clean, you knew what was coming next.

Story, letter, ad, Abilene’s connection of the story to the relics.

Parts of the ending of the novel seemed a bit too quick to me and some very unexpected—specifically the part where we find out Miss Sadie’s secret. I never even thought of Miss Sadie being the mother of Ned—that through me way off. I wish we had gotten more background there, but at the same time, it was understandable why we didn’t. Ned’s life was cut short and she never even got to get close enough to him to tell him what had happened.

Miss Sadie loses her son Ned in two ways—the first being that he never finds out where he is from and who his mother is (even though she is right in front of him many times) and the second more obvious one being his death in the war. This loss parallels to things that happen to Abilene. She too loses someone she loves, her father, and doesn’t know who he was in the past, except her problems are resolved. She finds out who her father was in town and gets him back. The ending was perfect. Cry first, smile later.
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Mar 12, 2015 Michelle Parsons rated it liked it

Shelves: ya-lit

I had never knowingly read anything by Clair Vanderpool previous to this title, though I had shelved this book multiple times at the bookstore where I work. I was expecting something that was not what I got. But Moon Over Manifest was actually something I really enjoyed.
I like historical fiction of any period. My grandparents were growing up during the depression, so it is an era about which I'd already heard stories. I felt like the descriptions of train hopping, the "jungle," the tree house, I had never knowingly read anything by Clair Vanderpool previous to this title, though I had shelved this book multiple times at the bookstore where I work. I was expecting something that was not what I got. But Moon Over Manifest was actually something I really enjoyed.
I like historical fiction of any period. My grandparents were growing up during the depression, so it is an era about which I'd already heard stories. I felt like the descriptions of train hopping, the "jungle," the tree house, and the meals were accurate and familiar. I thought Abilene was a relatable character, though she was not one that interested me too much. She was so sure she knew everything about people to start with, though I guess that was part of her learning process.
I was not expecting the flashback stories, though when I consider Abilene's drive to learn her father's story, I suppose that I should not have been surprised. Miss Sadie's narration was detailed and intricate, where Abilene's narration was vague and slightly (for want of a better word) dusty. Despite her obvious intelligence and fiestiness, she never really clicked as a truly real person.
I was expecting to find out more about Abilene and the depression than about her father and the town secret from 1918. The tales of Jinx and Ned were fun, interesting, exciting in a way that Abilene's own story was not. I'm not sure if that is a commentary on Shady's ability to keep Abilene out of trouble, Abilene's own personality, or that older boys are more likely to be adventuresome than younger girls.
My favorite bits were historical details, like the Orphan Train, the Ellis Island inspection process, and even the terrifying and ridiculous actions of the Ku Klux Klan. I appreciated the symbolism of the lanced wound. I would most like to have seen an additional bit about Miss Sadie's garden. Did it ever grow? And finally, the compass. Who got to keep it? It was such a vital part of the story for Abilene, Miss Sadie, Jinx, and Ned. It matters where it went.
The book was a little slow, and not what I expected it to be. But it was still a well-written book that kept me engaged. ...more

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Mar 12, 2015 Lauren H. rated it did not like it

Clare Vanderpool’s Moon Over Manifest tells the story of a girl, Abilene Tucker, who discovers her father’s past through a series of fragmented stories (told by Miss Sadie the diviner), letters, and newspaper clips. It reads much like a mystery novel, in which Abilene (and the reader) tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together until the end, when the truth is revealed. I think Clare Vanderpoole’s Moon Over Manifest has excellent intentions to demonstrate the importance of family ties and dis Clare Vanderpool’s Moon Over Manifest tells the story of a girl, Abilene Tucker, who discovers her father’s past through a series of fragmented stories (told by Miss Sadie the diviner), letters, and newspaper clips. It reads much like a mystery novel, in which Abilene (and the reader) tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together until the end, when the truth is revealed. I think Clare Vanderpoole’s Moon Over Manifest has excellent intentions to demonstrate the importance of family ties and discovering one’s roots; however, I think the intentions do not fully play out in the writing and plot of the novel itself.

The greatest aspect that I find the book lacking is character development. Granted, the historical characters are pretty well developed; however, I found that the main character and narrator, Abilene Tucker, fell short. She seems bland, and I had a difficult time connecting with her on any level. Because of this, I became increasingly uninterested in the story of her father’s past. Had she been a dynamic, relatable character, I think the stakes would have been raised in terms of the importance of discovering the past. As it is currently written, the “stakes” for solving the mystery of the Rattler and Abilene’s father’s past seem bland and diminished; if she finds out her father’s past, she finds out more about herself. However, since as a reader I didn’t care about Abilene, I also didn’t give any weight to discovering the answers to the mysteries.

I also found the structure of the book to be another moment of good intentions that fell short. I understand that Vanderpool uses the structure to guide the reader through the same fragmented story bits that Abilene herself learns, yet, because of the structure, interesting and exciting moments seem clipped, and it seems to distance the reader from the stories being told. This book is listed for ages 9-12, and I’m not sure how that particular age group would relate to this novel. The constant disruption of the exciting plot points disengaged me, and my guess is that many younger readers would also have the same reaction.

In the end, this is not a book I would recommend to most readers. Although I really appreciate Vanderpool’s desire to show how one connects with his/her past, the actual implementation of that theme into the novel itself is lackluster.
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Mar 11, 2015 Jacob Mroczkiewicz rated it really liked it

Living a hardscrabble life in Depression-era America, Abilene is sent to Manifest by her father. Abilene thought that she was just sent there while her father worked a railroad job in Iowa, seeking to find a mere semblance of security in that insecure age of American life. Abilene thought that she would merely being biding her time until her father returned at the end of the summer so they could continue living their wayward existence as vagabond laborers. She always thought that home was where Living a hardscrabble life in Depression-era America, Abilene is sent to Manifest by her father. Abilene thought that she was just sent there while her father worked a railroad job in Iowa, seeking to find a mere semblance of security in that insecure age of American life. Abilene thought that she would merely being biding her time until her father returned at the end of the summer so they could continue living their wayward existence as vagabond laborers. She always thought that home was where ever her father was. She never thought that Manifest would indeed manifest within her, being more of a home than she had ever known.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel -- I mean, it won the Newberry after all. I enjoyed the components of mystery and adventure that played such a pivotal role in Abilene developing as a character. I also quite enjoyed the intertextual influences of the novel. I saw some Melville, Steinbeck, and Harper Lee in Moon Over Manifest -- all of which use adventure, exploration, and intermittent doses of mystery to develop their characters (Melville's Ishmael, Steinbeck's Charles and Aaron or Lenny and George, and I think Abilene has a bit of Scout in her as well). A stark and difficult portion of American history is artfully rendered in Abilene's interaction with it, and what better way to gain an unadulterated perspective of time and home than through the eyes of a child.

Specifically as a YA novel, this text operates under what I am calling the Eliot Question ("Do I dare disturb the universe?") in Abilene's spying and digging, listening and hearing. She was rooting herself to this idea of home all along, forging a sense of belonging within herself, that ultimately allowed her to develop her own identity. Strong sense of place also seems to be a recurrent theme in YA literature. I would willingly work this novel into a conceptual unit that perhaps examines works from this period of time, or the concept of adventure, possibly even mystery. Otherwise, it would surely make its way onto any self-select reading list that I may use for students in grades 7-10. Heck, I'd even recommend it to older students, as I think this novel has a lot to say about symbolism and the concept of story.

Rest assured, Moon Over Manifest will have a place on my bookshelf to call home. ...more

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Mar 07, 2015 Logan rated it liked it

Clare Vanderpool's Moon Over Manifest is a novel tracking two separate storylines across the same geographical planes. Set primarily in Manifest, Kansas, the piece spends a majority of its time following the Depression-era storyline of Abilene Tucker after she is sent to Kansas by her father from their home in Indiana. The other half of the story -- interspersed throughout the text and marked by a slightly different typeface -- follows the lives of two young boys in Manifest during the time of t Clare Vanderpool's Moon Over Manifest is a novel tracking two separate storylines across the same geographical planes. Set primarily in Manifest, Kansas, the piece spends a majority of its time following the Depression-era storyline of Abilene Tucker after she is sent to Kansas by her father from their home in Indiana. The other half of the story -- interspersed throughout the text and marked by a slightly different typeface -- follows the lives of two young boys in Manifest during the time of the first World War. The technique used by the author is reminiscent of the < entrelacement common to medieval romances, through which the story is able to switch back and forth between alternating storylines to maintain a sense of urgency and interest.

Moon Over Manifest serves as an interesting vehicle for various lessons from history: it addresses the horrors of the Ku Klux Klan, the dangers of the World War, and the struggles faced by everyday Americans in the Great Depression. Abilene, as the narrative's plucky main character, moves along a path of growth and development as she learns to love the people of Manifest, all the while trying to understand her father's reason for sending her away.

While Vanderpool's decisions to cast various parts of the narrative in nontraditional formatting (various news clippings are interspersed throughout the chapters, and different moments along the timeline are displayed in alternate font choices), these inventive choices did not (in my reading) save the book from its own overwhelming dullness. Abilene's life is slow and relatively monotonous, reflective of the day-to-day existence of the citizens of Manifest, but while such a portrayal is perhaps (though controversially) accurate, it does not make for entertaining reading. I did find myself somewhat engaged in the alternate storyline presented throughout the text, but the mysterious nature of the characters and events depicted in this storyline prevented me from becoming invested in the characters and their lives.

Overall, however, Vanderpool's book stands as a strikingly realistic (or realistic-feeling) portrayal of life in the Depression, and does raise important questions about identity and historical significance, and would be a useful text for teaching younger readers about the harsher realities of past lives. ...more

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Feb 28, 2015 Jung Han rated it it was ok

I personally found this novel as a very interesting story, though not so quite engaging. This is an interesting story but not quite engaging. The time of the Great depression period is always a good source to be described, so watching the life of that time was one interesting element of reading this book.
The village in which Abilene was spending summer timeduring the summer was where her father had beenwas grownraised, and where she started a journey to search for her father’s past footsteps. T ...more

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Jan 23, 2015 Jawaria rated it liked it

'Moon Over Manifest' was a nice, engaging read. The mystery quotient, the familial ties, the nostalgic and special history embedded within Manifest, and the symbolic objects through the novel all create a surreal, small town story. It is not extraordinary in any bizarre way, rather a sweet re-telling of one young, adventurous Abilene's story and past, her father's story and identity. Located in the complex historical context, the novel gives a deeper, more personalized account of the Great Depre ...more

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Mar 12, 2015 Michelle rated it it was ok

Moon Over Manifest, a book set with the backdrop of WWI, follows young Abilene on her journey of discovering the history of the town she currently calls home while she also tries to learn who her father truly is, and why he sent her to this town of all places. The story had a good set up, albeit a little predicable, with how it gradually revealed to both the reader and Abilene the story of Manifest, Kansas and, in turn, Abilene's father.

While I enjoyed Abilene's character, I found the parts of ...more

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