From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026…

Moon Over Manifest

Clare Vanderpool

Start date: January 20, 2011

Finish date: May 20, 2011

Discussion: Book of the Month 2011

Why we're reading this: 2011 Newbery Medal Winner
With Honors: Heart of a Samurai, One Crazy Summer, Turtle in Paradise and Dark E…more
[close] 2011 Newbery Medal Winner
With Honors: Heart of a Samurai, One Crazy Summer, Turtle in Paradise and Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night.

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Book of the Month 2011

November Read - The Kneebone Boy
By Kristen · 15 posts · 68 views

last updated Mar 26, 2011 01:49PM

December Read - The Dreamer
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last updated Dec 30, 2010 09:21PM

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What Members Thought

Jun 10, 2011 Mark rated it really liked it

Shelves: coming-of-age, young-adult-literature, historical-fiction, newberry

"The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I knew only from stories. The one just outside of town with big blue letters: MANIFEST: A TOWN WITH A RICH PAST AND A BRIGHT FUTURE."

Abilene Tucker is on the train to Manifest, in the late summer of 1936, because her father (Gideon)has gotten work on the rails in Iowa, and has decided that Abilene cannot stay with him. Manifest is where Gideon grew up, but Abilene is anxious, beca "The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I knew only from stories. The one just outside of town with big blue letters: MANIFEST: A TOWN WITH A RICH PAST AND A BRIGHT FUTURE."

Abilene Tucker is on the train to Manifest, in the late summer of 1936, because her father (Gideon)has gotten work on the rails in Iowa, and has decided that Abilene cannot stay with him. Manifest is where Gideon grew up, but Abilene is anxious, because this is the first time she and her father have been truly separated. Upon her arrival in town, Abilene meets Shady, who cared for Gideon when he was younger, in addition to other curious characters in the town. She starts school, cautiously makes a few new friends, and continues to wait for Gideon to come and retrieve her. When Abilene finds a box of letters and mementos hidden in Shady's house, she guesses that the box could hold clues to her father's youth. With the help of her friends, and Miss Sadie, the town diviner, Abilene sets out to piece together puzzle pieces from Manifest's past, a past that many townspeople seem content to forget.

This novel shifts often in perspective, between Abilene's 1936, and the time period depicted in the found letters (Manifest in 1918). I found myself much more engrossed, though, in the 1918 events, than in what was happening in 1936. Abilene, as a main character, just wasn't as interesting as the Manifest cast from an earlier generation. Many of the secondary characters, though, are extremely well-drawn (Miss Shadie, for one), and I felt more of a connection with them than with Abilene. I read another review which compared this novel to _Jellicoe Road_, and I can see the comparison; both novels reveal gradual layers of truth, which requires a patient and fairly attentive reading. I do appreciate how Vanderpool has written a book that could serve as an effective coming-of-age mystery novel, but which also has deeper messages about race relations and immigration. Rich in historical details, I could easily see this book being used with middle school cross-curricular units. ...more

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Oct 12, 2013 Beth rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, historical-fiction, middle-grade, newbery, 2014-novel-length-reads

Liked it. Didn't love it. Will most likely have forgotten most of it in a few hours.

Jenna Lamia was a perfect fit to narrate the audiobook. She definitely made me enjoy the book more than if I had read it on my own. ...more

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Jan 15, 2011 Teresa Garrett rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, newbery-award

What a ride. I was laughing one moment on the verge of tears the next. What can you say about a book that combines: orphan trains, WWI, Spanish Influenza, bootlegging, and the Great Depression? Lots and lots of plot twists revolve around Abilene went she is sent to her father's hometown. She is bent on finding out as much about her dad as a younger man but noone seems in the mood to tell her much so with her newly made friends she sets out on a mission to uncover as many secrets as possible beca ...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Pamela rated it liked it

Had to read the Newbery winner. Set during the Great Depression, I liked it OK. I liked how the story was told, slowly to the main girl by the local diviner that explained several keepsakes she had found in a box hidden in the floorboards. I also liked how it flipped back and forth between 1930s and World War I.

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Jan 12, 2011 Joshua Whiting rated it it was amazing

Read my review over at the Froz-T-Freez: http://froztfreez.com/moon-over-manif... ...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Courtney rated it it was amazing

Shelves: juvenile, newbery, fiction, 2011

A truly relevant children's book about depression-era Kansas and the life of immigrant children. Abilene finds herself sent away by her father to his home town where no one wants to tell her about his life there as a boy. After she finds letters from Ned to Jinx and begins to learn about their story and the story of Manifest's history, she sets out on a spy hunt and a search for the truth. ...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Wow! This books weaves such a beautiful story. If at first you ate reluctant, stick with it. Each page gets better and better. I ended the book on the beach smiling and in tears.

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