The Moon Over High Street

By Natalie Babbitt

Published by Michael Di Capua Books

Copyright © 2012

Renowned children’s author Natalie Babbitt has given us a simple yet charming story about being true to yourself even when someone offers you the world to change.

Twelve year old Joe Casimir lives in Willowick with his Grandmother, and he is going to spend a few weeks this summer with his Aunt Myra down in the Southwestern corner of the state in a town called midville. He isn’t sure if he is going to have a good time being away from his friends, but that thought disappears when he meets Beatrice, the girl next door who just happens to be the same age.

While Beatrice is showing Joe around town she takes him up to High Street which is where all the rich people live. By chance Joe and Beatrice meet the richest man in town, Mr. Boulderwall, who turns out to be pretty nice. It isn’t long till Joe’s summer is turned upside down, because Mr. Boulderwall is going to make him an offer that will leave him set for life. Joe isn’t sure what to do and he is hoping that someone else will know. Somehow the answer to his dilemma seems to be hung from the moon.

“The Moon Over High Street” is simple tale in that it isn’t complicated with a multitude of characters, complex historical backdrops, or magic and fantasy. Babbitt just sets up a nice realistic fiction story, for children 10 years old and up, about a young boy from Ohio in the early 1960’s with a tough decision to make.

What I enjoyed about this book was that while Joe’s life must have had some sadness, the sadness isn’t the focus. In addition, the choice Joe needs to make isn’t a dire life or death, good or bad, kind of choice, but a “what do I want my life to be” kind of choice. At 12 years old Joe is forced to give serious thought to what he wants to be when he grows up, as compared to what Mr. Boulderwall wants him to be and what he thinks might be more helpful to his grandmother. Lastly, I love books with lessons and this one has a good one. Money is necessary, but is it the most important thing? This is a lesson that all people, not just children, need to learn.

The Dead & The Gone

By Susan Beth Pfeffer
Published by Harcourt, Inc.
Copyright © 2008
“The Dead & the Gone” is the sequel to “Life as We Knew It”, but it is not your typical sequel. Most sequels begin where the original story left off, but “The Dead & the Gone” is a parallel story. Pfeffer takes us back to the beginning of the story when the Moon is moved closer to the earth by an asteroid. Where “Life…” tells the story from the viewpoint of a teenage girl in small town Pennsylvania, “The Dead…” gives us the same event story but from the diametric viewpoint of a teenage boy in the big city, New York, New York.

Alex has just come home from his job at the pizza shop, and the electricity has gone out. His sisters are at home, but his father is Puerto Rico for a funeral and his mother is still at her job at the hospital. This crisis could not happen at a worse time for Alex who must now take care of his younger sisters until his parents make it home. The question is though, will they make it home.

If you’ve read “Life as We Knew it” you are familiar with the type of difficulties that ensue, but how one copes in the city is just a little different. If you liked “Life…” then you should definitely check this book out. However I don’t recommend reading both books back to back, read something a little happier in between. They are great books, but they could be a little depressing if taken in large doses.