by Michelle Hand for TWU Course Literature for Children and Young Adults
Vanderpool, Clare and Vikki Sheatsley. 2010. MOON OVER MANIFEST. NewYork, NY: Delacorte. ISBN: 9780375858291.
Moon Over Manifest is historical fiction set in 1936 in Manifest, KS. Abilene, a 12-year old girl, is sent to Manifest to live with strangers. The only thing familiar is a compass her daddy gave her. While in Manifest she discovers a cigar box of clues that set into motion a spy hunt and leads her to answers about her daddy's past.
Critical Analysis
Clare Vanderpool's MOON OVER MANIFEST has a vast cast of characters spanning eras and generations. Abilene makes connections with her own age group, Lettie and Ruthanne, as well as adult figures, Pastor Shady, Miss Sadie and Hattie Mae. Through letters and found mementos she gets to know people from Manifest's past and develops emotional ties with them.
Manifest, Kansas is a small mining town populated with immigrant workers. Abilene soon discovers there is not much left of the town besides a couple of storefronts and a divining parlor. The mementos give her clues of what a bustling and productive town Manifest used to be. Each clue leads her through a town fair to a Presidential train stop to moonshine making to a ghost in the cemetery to letters from a World War I soldier. Vanderpool does a sufficient job of weaving past and present events by using Hattie Mae's newspaper column and
propaganda along with dated chapters and events that happened in certain eras of American history. The jumping back and forth across time and different points of view lost my focus several times but with clues such as Shady hiding bottles of alchohol, mining workers fighting for their rights and the Spanish flu led me back to the right time period.
MOON OVER MANIFEST brings many of the struggles of the depression era to the forefront but Abilene's adventures, relationships and discoveries sheds a bright light of hope for a happy ending for all the characters.
Review Excerpt(s)
“Readers will cherish every word up to the heartbreaking yet hopeful and deeply gratifying ending.” -Kirkus Reviews
"Replete with historical details and surprises, Vanderpool's debut delights,while giving insight into family and community.” - Publisher's Weekly
"Ingeniously plotted and gracefully told." - The Bulletin of the Center For Children's Books
2011 Newbery Medal Winner
Connections
Write the story that Abilene turns into Sister Redempta on September 1. Remember that a
story must have a beginning, middle, and an end. Think of an appropriate title. Other than Gideon, to whom might Abilene dedicate her story?
Miss Sadie uses hawthorn root to increase circulation. Ask students to refer to the
following website and choose at least 10 common plants and herbs and chart their medicinal use: herbsguide.net. Have them include a colored sketch of the plant for identification purposes.
The women of Manifest are planning a friendship quilt, and they ask Miss Sadie to make the center square. Consider Miss Sadie’s heritage, her role in the town and its history. Then ask
them to design the square that Miss Sadie might make. Students may also design a square submitted by Abilene, Lettie, Ruthanne, Hattie Mae, and other women in the novel.
Connections from “Educator's Guide: Moon Over Manifest, Grades 4-7” Clare Vanderpool, accessed April 7, 2013, www.randomhouse.com/MoonOverManifest_TeachEdition_WEB.pdf
Other historical fiction about the Depression Era and/or written by Clare Vanderpool for young adults.
Hesse, Karen. OUT OF THE DUST. ISBN: 9780439771276
Curtis, Christopher Paul. THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE. ISBN: 9780385734912
Vanderpool, Clare. NAVIGATING EARLY. ISBN: 9780385742092
Moon Over Manifest is historical fiction set in 1936 in Manifest, KS. Abilene, a 12-year old girl, is sent to Manifest to live with strangers. The only thing familiar is a compass her daddy gave her. While in Manifest she discovers a cigar box of clues that set into motion a spy hunt and leads her to answers about her daddy's past.
Critical Analysis
Clare Vanderpool's MOON OVER MANIFEST has a vast cast of characters spanning eras and generations. Abilene makes connections with her own age group, Lettie and Ruthanne, as well as adult figures, Pastor Shady, Miss Sadie and Hattie Mae. Through letters and found mementos she gets to know people from Manifest's past and develops emotional ties with them.
Manifest, Kansas is a small mining town populated with immigrant workers. Abilene soon discovers there is not much left of the town besides a couple of storefronts and a divining parlor. The mementos give her clues of what a bustling and productive town Manifest used to be. Each clue leads her through a town fair to a Presidential train stop to moonshine making to a ghost in the cemetery to letters from a World War I soldier. Vanderpool does a sufficient job of weaving past and present events by using Hattie Mae's newspaper column and
propaganda along with dated chapters and events that happened in certain eras of American history. The jumping back and forth across time and different points of view lost my focus several times but with clues such as Shady hiding bottles of alchohol, mining workers fighting for their rights and the Spanish flu led me back to the right time period.
MOON OVER MANIFEST brings many of the struggles of the depression era to the forefront but Abilene's adventures, relationships and discoveries sheds a bright light of hope for a happy ending for all the characters.
Review Excerpt(s)
“Readers will cherish every word up to the heartbreaking yet hopeful and deeply gratifying ending.” -Kirkus Reviews
"Replete with historical details and surprises, Vanderpool's debut delights,while giving insight into family and community.” - Publisher's Weekly
"Ingeniously plotted and gracefully told." - The Bulletin of the Center For Children's Books
2011 Newbery Medal Winner
Connections
Write the story that Abilene turns into Sister Redempta on September 1. Remember that a
story must have a beginning, middle, and an end. Think of an appropriate title. Other than Gideon, to whom might Abilene dedicate her story?
Miss Sadie uses hawthorn root to increase circulation. Ask students to refer to the
following website and choose at least 10 common plants and herbs and chart their medicinal use: herbsguide.net. Have them include a colored sketch of the plant for identification purposes.
The women of Manifest are planning a friendship quilt, and they ask Miss Sadie to make the center square. Consider Miss Sadie’s heritage, her role in the town and its history. Then ask
them to design the square that Miss Sadie might make. Students may also design a square submitted by Abilene, Lettie, Ruthanne, Hattie Mae, and other women in the novel.
Connections from “Educator's Guide: Moon Over Manifest, Grades 4-7” Clare Vanderpool, accessed April 7, 2013, www.randomhouse.com/MoonOverManifest_TeachEdition_WEB.pdf
Other historical fiction about the Depression Era and/or written by Clare Vanderpool for young adults.
Hesse, Karen. OUT OF THE DUST. ISBN: 9780439771276
Curtis, Christopher Paul. THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE. ISBN: 9780385734912
Vanderpool, Clare. NAVIGATING EARLY. ISBN: 9780385742092
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