William Mark Habeeb

I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program, and I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book.

This was a compelling coming of age story—it managed to tell it without “feeling” young adult (and I don’t think it is young adult, despite the age of the narrator) which is not me trying to knock YA books, but there is definitely a vibe going on and some of the content is more adult.

Some of the pacing towards the end felt like it picked up so quickly, and I don’t love a time jump epilogue but I think the sort of cascading struggles that Moon faces really does a great job of sort of mirroring life in a really good interesting way. Definitely a compelling and interesting examination of identity development in so many ways.… (mere)

A wonderful book about the coming of age of a 13-year old runaway who renames himself Moon.
His father was abusive to mother and sons and killed the family dog. Moon runs away to California and spends some time homeless on the streets before getting picked up and taken to a temporary shelter. There he meets Renata, a therapist who helps him realize his own worth.

The story is engrossing. So much so that almost anything more about it would seem like a spoiler, The pace is perfect. The characters are fleshed out. The backstories are intriguing.

Overall, I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in good storytelling.… (mere)