Maggot Moon

Sally Gardner’s Maggot Moon was unexpected and has left me with an unsettled feeling.  The story itself was well-written, really capturing the essence of the characters and the setting.  The story begins with the powerful, “I’m wondering what if…”  What if are two very powerful words that make all the difference in this story.  For fear of giving too much away, I’ll share just enough to hopefully intrigue to read this story and allow it to make you think.

Standish Treadwell imagines life differently, and in doing so becomes friends with his neighbor Hector until one day Hector makes his way to the other side of the wall and disappears.  Standish and his grandfather try to live their life as normally as they can, but time is running out and Standish finally understands what the Motherland has been hiding and its enough to make Standish make a stand.

With a setting that had me thinking of Nazis, concentration camps, and Soviet-era Russia with a little twist of districts from The Hunger Games, Maggot Moon is a story that truly made me pause at the end.  The character of Standish makes a huge decision – not for himself or his family, but so the world will know the truth and in his quiet way, his decision makes him a hero.  This was not my favorite book, I have read recently, but not because the writing is poor, more so because the story itself was so heavy, for lack of a better word.  I tend to read things that are usually lighter and more entertaining.  This book is neither of those things, but it did make me stop and think and I think that’s exactly what it was supposed to do.  As a caveat, there was one use the of the f-word in the story, which could be troublesome if you wanted to use the book as a discussion option, but it did make a very interesting read and I can see it being used as a great discussion book for young adults.

Check out Sally Gardner’s website for more information about her as an author and the books she has written.

Title: Maggot Moon
Author: Sally Gardner
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date: 2012
Page Number: 279 pgs.