Moon Over Manifest:

by Clare Vanderpool

Winner of the 2011 Newbery Award.


The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future.

Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.

Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”

Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.

Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool’s debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Mystery

370 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 12, 2010

About the author

Clare Vanderpool, recipient of the 2011 Newbery Award, is a resident of Wichita, Kansas. She has a degree in English and Elementary Education and enjoys reading, going to the pool with her children, the television show Monk, and visiting the bookstores in her town.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only regret after finishing Moon Over Manifest is that I didn't read it while sitting on a gently swaying porch swing, sipping ice-cold lemonade, swatting away the occasional mosquito as a harmonica played and a steam engine sounded its passing in the distance. Reading this book is like stepping back in time, and as I came to the last lines, it was bittersweet to know that I was about to leave that world behind.

Moon Over Manifest is the story of tough and independent Abilene Tucker. At the beginning of the story, Abilene saunters into the seemingly dull Kansas town of Manifest. She is settling down (not by her own choice) for the first time in a childhood spent on the road. Well, on the rails, actually. During the Great Depression of the 1930's, many jobless men resorted to a life of hitching rides on the railroads, going from town to town in search of work. Abilene and her father, Gideon, were two such "hobos"--an unusual background for a girl of twelve, to say the least.

From the moment she arrives in Manifest, Abilene is counting down the days left in the summer. She can think of nothing but the day when Gideon, who has sent her there alone, will come to take her back out on the rails with him. But it doesn't take long for doubt to set in. Is Gideon coming back? Why has he sent her to this town? Abilene knows that he spent time here before she was born, but when she tries to learn more from the people she meets in Manifest, she gets nothing but cryptic answers and dead-ends. But whether Gideon is coming back for her is not the only mystery she has to deal with. Abilene seems to be a magnet for secrets, eerie events and strange coincidences. A threatening note leads Abilene to begin scraping at Manifest's sleepy surface and she soon discovers that underneath, Manifest is a town with a dramatic past.

A rail-riding, twelve-year-old girl makes for a very unique protagonist. Abilene's voice is strong and steady, but just when she starts to seem a little too grown-up, she reveals the fears and doubts that are underneath her big talk. Abilene is the perfect heroine for a mystery. She's a fearless investigator, a careful listener, and an unabashed snoop.

In addition to bringing us a likable and original heroine in Abilene, Clare Vanderpool does an excellent job of making her book impossible to put down. The story moves back and forth between Abilene's life (Manifest, 1936) and glimpses of the past (Manifest, 1917), through stories told by the medium Miss Sadie and through letters and trinkets found underneath the floorboards of Abilene's room. Vanderpool transitions into these flashbacks so enticingly that you can't help but read on. All this past week, my eyelids sagging, I would try my darnedest to find a good stopping point, but when I saw that the end of the chapter was leading into a new flashback, I just couldn't bring myself to close the book. I needed to know what new secrets would be revealed, so I kept reading on, no matter the time. (For a teacher, on a school-night, that's saying a lot!)

While Moon Over Manifest is an excellent mystery, this is really just a clever disguise. At its heart, this is a story about family and community and what it means to make a home. It's also a story about...well, stories. Everyone in Manifest has a story, and there is something sacred in their tellings. As Miss Sadie's stories of old Manifest become more and more frequent, Abilene realizes that "As much as I had a need to hear her story, she had a need to tell it. It was as if the story was the only balm that provided any comfort" (p. 154). As the summer creeps on, Abilene realizes what an honor it is to have been invited, not just into the stories of the people of Manifest, but into their lives. In this novel, Clare Vanderpool both celebrates and demonstrates the magic of a well-crafted story. Now, go pour yourself a glass of lemonade and get to reading it!

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are no words that could adequately express the love I feel for Clare Vanderpool’s Newberry Award winning debut, Moon Over Manifest. I very rarely post any but the most basic thoughts about a book on Goodreads right after finishing it, and most often wait until I have had time to collect my thoughts and put them down in some coherent form. With Moon Over Manifest, I immediately posted the following:

This book gets ALL THE STARS.

Seriously…it has:

Conspiracy
Diviners
The Great Depression
World War I
Epistolary aspects
Stories within stories that slowly line up
An amazing narration
Middle Grade
Historical Fiction
Speakeasy
Nuns
Evil pit boss
the KKK
Immigration stories
Hobos
Morse code
Spies
Hooch
Murder
Sickness
Great stories
Investigative kids
On top of which it manages to be COMPLETELY HEARTWARMING.

I wish to repeat and expound upon that enthusiasm here–but really? If that amazing list couldn’t convince you that Moon Over Manifest is well worth your time to read, I’m not sure that any further ramblings on my part can do so.

You’ve seen me mention narrator Jenna Lamia on the blog several times now, and there is a reason she has quickly become one of my favorite female narrators. She is the type of narrator that infuses a book with life and makes the audio into an experience that is richer than you could have had merely reading the story on the page (though I have no doubt Moon Over Manifest is also a wonderful read). She is the type of narrator I will listen to because I love the way she tells a story, the kind that can make me check out a book I would have otherwise ignored because she is a part of it. I particularly love her narration of MG and YA books because she has a very young voice–too often narrators with more mature sounding voices sound demeaning when voicing younger characters. In addition, Moon Over Manifest utilizes the talents of Cassandra Campbell and Kirby Heyborne to read the newspaper articles and letters that are included in the text, bringing another voice to the story that makes us feel wrapped up in what Abilene and her friends are experiencing through words themselves.

Moon Over Manifest turned out to be a very different story than the one I thought I was getting. It isn’t the story of one girl, it is the story of a town–its present, its history, and its people. It’s a story of family and friendship, a story of home. I adored Abilene and my heart ached for her to find her father, but also to find a place to call her own in Manifest. That said, much more than Abilene’s tale, I was heavily invested in the story of Manifest’s past–a story that had me constantly laughing, holding my breath, and at least contemplating tears. The struggle of a largely immigrant population to find their footing in WWI America where many wish to keep them down is inspiring. It’s a story I could easily go on about at some length, but sometimes no amount of praise will really do a book justice. I will only say that I recommend this one with all my heart.

If you are a fan of either The Mighty Miss Malone or On the Jellicoe Road (and who isn't?), you MUST read (or better yet, listen to) Moon Over Manifest.

Original review posted at Bunbury in the Stacks.

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice safe choice for the Newbery people, but not one that knocked my socks off.

The best historical novels, of course, trick you into learning about their periods. The reader never notices he’s sitting still for a history seminar, but is swept up in a story that happens in history. Vanderpool’s intention to teach World War I, the Spanish Flu pandemic, the Great Depression, is quite transparent.

Not to mention her desire to impart a feel-good messages about diversity (that is, the diversity of European immigrants in a Kansas town), and self-confidence. You know the bad guys are going to lose because, well, they’re bad. And they’re in the Ku Klux Klan

The structure of the novel makes for some snags in the stream, as well. There are four narrators, the delightfully feisty Abilene Tucker, 12-years-old and making do without family as a new resident of Manifest, Kansas, the author of a somewhat hokey homespun newspaper column, the doughboy scribe behind a trove of letters Abilene comes across, and a Hungarian fortune teller.

If that isn’t enough stutter-stop narration for you, you also have to keep switching back and forth between two time frames, 1918 and 1936.

Too bad, because Vanderpool has some strong characters, a fascinating little window into an unsung time and place, and a nice bit of mystery regarding Abilene’s father.

I especially liked the cousins who quickly become Abilene’s buddies, the spunky Lettie and Ruthanne, and wished I could have followed more closely on the three girls’ heels as they kicked up the dust in the streets of Manifest. In the 1918 flashbacks, a boy called Jinx is also a strong and complex character.

The adults, with the exception of Abilene’s caretaker, Shady Howard, both a man of the cloth and the bottle, are one-dimensional and predictable. Like a nun named Sister Redempta, and those guys wearing hoods.

If I’d come to ‘Moon Over Manifest’ as an unheralded debut novel, I might have been more forgiving of its flaws. I expected more from the Newbery Award winner, especially in a year with so many great chapter books, and for that matter a fantastic non-fiction book about World War I, Russell Freedman’s ‘The War to End All Wars.’

[Rudy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm. This is a tough one. Moon Over Manifest just won the Newbery which is why I picked it up. The book is 279 pages long and I didn't start getting really into it until around page 210. The writing is artful enough. My issue with the book is the threading together of all the different pieces. Reflecting on what I mean by different pieces I realize I am referring to the characters in the different timelines. They don't flow together very smoothely and they feel somehow mismatched.

There are two stories being told, one in 'flashback' and set in 1918; the second story set in the 'present'- the present being 1936 - is told from first person point of view by Abilene Tucker, the main character. Abilene is attempting to understand her father better by finding out about her father's history and ends up revealing the history of the town of Manifest. She brings to light the connections between its citizens, their hopes, hardships, and dreams. The story of the town of Manifest turns out to be, on a small scale, the story of the United States.

Although following the action of how the town comes together to create its own destiny and identity is entertaining and involving, more so than Abilene's search for her father, it is ultimately the town as seen in its 1936 version that is more affecting. Manifest in 1936 is a town that has forgotten its roots, its potential and those dreams that once unified its people and guided them, toward working to achieve the common goals of independence, self possession and self determination. Manifest is now a town whose best day is behind it. It is when the author places this depression era picture, beside the earlier struggling but intrepid and ever inventive one of the town,that the book becomes powerful. It is when the reader considers the contrast of these two pictures, the contrast of an earlier United States with the present one, that what is being read actually starts to hurt.

I don't think the target audience for the book is going to pick up on all of that though. It is a young adult book.

[Mohammad Mahdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

اصولا کتاب خوندن - به ویژه کتاب داستانی خوندن- توی شرایط غیرعادی لذت دیگه ای داره. مثلا توی سفر یا توی سرما و گرما، توی شرایط سخت کاری یا شرایط خاص روحی. یکی ازین شرایط که تو این دو سه روزه درگیرش بودم، مریضی و تب و لرز بود.

وقتی چهارشنبه رفتم توی یه نمایشگاه کتاب نه چندان بزرگ و باشکوه، اصلا قصد نداشتم برم سر غرفه افق. چندتا کتاب از نشر چشمه نشون کرده بودم که وقتی برای بار سوم بنر بزرگ لیست ناشرای حاضر رو نگاه کردم و مطمئن شدم که نشر چشمه حضور نداره رفتم سراغ انتشارات های نام آشنای دیگه که یکیش افق بود. تقریبا به محض اینکه رسیدم جلوی غرفه افق خیره شدم به اون قسمت «رمان نوجوان» با اینکه دو سه هفته بود دیگه رسما جوان حساب میشدم :))

به طور کلی از مجموعه کتابای «رمان نوجوان» افق خاطره خیلی خوبی داشتم. تاحالا دوتا از کتاباشو خونده بودم. «متشکرم از ته دل» و «بن بست نورولت». و هردو با اینکه روایت داستانی ساده ای داشتن حس خیلی خوبی بهم میدادن. حوصله کتابای پر از اتفاق و حادثه و ماوراء الطبیعه نداشتم و یه فیکشن درام و احساسی خیلی آروم میخواستم بنابراین تصمیم گرفتم یکی از اون رمانای نوجوان رو بردارم که ماه بر فراز مانیفست چشمم رو گرفت. راستشو بگم از همشون ضخیم تر بود :)) من کلا مقاومتو در برابر کتابایی که ضخامتشون ��یشتر از دو بند انگشته از دست میدم. میدونم که خیلی معیار افتضاحیه برای انتخاب کتاب ولی برای من به معنی یه سفر دور و درازتره توی یه دنیای دیگه. البته از حق نگذریم جلدشم قشنگ بود، یه حس خاصی به آدم میداد.
وقتی رسیدم خونه اولین نشونه های مریضی رو داشتم و تا آخر شب، وقتی خوندن کتابو شروع کردم رسما تب داشتم.

ماه بر فراز مانیفست نه شاهکاره، نه خارق العاده نه خیلی مبتکرانه و نه هرچی. ولی اونقدر قشنگ و دلپذیره که من شخصا خیانت میدونم کمتر از 5 بدم بهش. داستانش همونطوری بود که انتظار داشتم باشه. آمریکای اواسط قرن بیست و راز های دراماتیک شخصیت هایی که کم کم بر ملا میشد.
نوع روایت خیلی جالب بود که یه ماجرا رو از سه زاویه بیان میکرد. یکی از دید خود آبیلین ، یکی از دید یکی از مردم مانیفست و یکی هم از زاویه گزارشی از یک روزنامه در هجده سال قبل.
گرچه از همون اول میشد حدس زد که داستان های دوشیزه سادی چه ربطی به پدر آبیلین داره ولی مشخص میشه که خود نویسنده هم انتظار نداشته که ما غافلگیر بشیم از این قضیه. نویسنده غافلگیری اصلی رو برای صفحات آخر کنار گذاشته.
شخصیت پردازی کاراکترا بجز خود آبیلین با اینکه خیلی عمیق نبود ولی به شدت دوست داشتنی و ماندگار بود. بطوریکه بعد از پایان کتاب دلتون برای همه مردم مانیفست تنگ میشه. از شدی گرفته تا حتی خانم لارکین :(

با اینکه خود مریضی چندان خوشایند نیست ولی خوندن کتاب با اون حس کرختی تب آلود لذت خودشو داره. تنها جایی که میتونید بهش پناه ببرید . البته بعد از آنتی بیوتیک :)) تصور کنید بینیتون رو با دستمال پاک میکنید، پتو رو تا چونه میکشید روی خودتون، یه قلپ از لیوان چایی کنارتون میخورید و بعد مشتاقانه میرید فصل بعدی کتابو شروع کنید.

فعلا دوست ندارم کتاب دیگه ای بخونم. دوست دارم اون حس خلسه دوست داشتنی ای که از بعد از پایان کتاب توش فرو رفتم رو فعلا حفظ کنم.

در آخر ( واسه
the last but not the least
معادل فارسی نداریم ؟ )
باید بگم که چیزی که کتاب روش تاکید داشت بنظرم قدرت خاطرات بود. اینکه چطور خاطرات میتونن حقایق رو مشخص کنن و آدما و حتی یه شهرو تغییر بدن.
پ.ن: نصف بیشتر رویو صرف تعریف کردن این شد که چطوری کتابو خریدم و چطوری خوندمش. :|

پ.ن 2 : همچنان تب دارم !

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until a moment before, these people in Shady's bar had thought they knew little of each other as they hunkered with their own kind in their own trenches. But with the Hungarian woman's words, they suddenly recognized something in each other. They shared the same blood. Immigrant blood. (PG. 190)

Newbery Award- 2010- YA

I wish I could convey what I feel about this book without babbling and rambling but that's exactly what I would do. I loved this. I was in a reading funk for a bit but this got me out of it. I haven't read a Newbery Award winner that I thought truly deserved to win but I can say with satisfaction that this story hit the mark.

The novel is set in 1936 in Manifest, Kansas. It is a story within a story so the other narrator goes back to 1918 to tell the girl, Abilene, the events of that time, which is about the townspeople but also about her unanswered questions. She just doesn't know it yet. I love that timeline in history. The first world war to the Depression and the Spanish flu pandemic. Lots of uncertainty in the United States in both timelines.

It reminded me of 'A Tree Grows In Brooklyn' meets 'To Kill A Mockingbird.' It gave me all the feelings; nostalgia, for a time I wish still existed in small towns; laughter and sadness. I highly recommend this book for kids and adults. I hope 'Moon Over Manifest' will be considered a classic one day. It gives the reader a sense of being special just for reading it. : )

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just finished Moon Over Manifest and my thoughts are, in one word, mixed.

Really enjoyed the concept and the themes broached by author Clare Vanderpool. The life of immigrants and how they adjusted to their new country, and how their new country adjusted to them, is a subject I’ve always been fascinated by. I’ve always been intrigued by my own ancestor’s story, so I could easily identify with Abilene’s quest to unearth Manifest’s, and her own, history. I also really liked the parallel storylines and felt they complemented each other nicely. And the language had a warm and languid quality to it that I felt matched perfectly with the deceptively quiet mid-west town.

But, if I’m honest, not one of my favorites. Now, it is the 2011 Newberry Medal Winner, which I think, in addition to being an amazing honor, can be a bit of a burden. As a reader, I went into it with certain expectations and, maybe unfairly, was holding the book to a higher standard. As a result, I was underwhelmed. For one thing, I thought the book moved a little slow. As I was reading the book, I thought for a moment of how I would have received this book as a kid, and my first reaction was that I would have found in boring. I think the pacing could have been picked up a bit.

There many interesting, lovable characters in the story, but I thought almost too many. It didn’t feel like enough time was paid to all the characters for me to connect strongly with them. For that reason, some of the more emotional scenes toward the end (I’ll not mention them so as not to spoil anything) fell flat for me.

And finally, I thought the ending to the Jinx storyline was a bit cumbersome, particularly with the court scene. I had to re-read it a few times to make sure I understood what was happening. It was another time when I thought about myself as a young reader and wondered if I would be able to keep up. I also found the twist in that scene to be a little deus ex machina.

So, for those reasons, I would have a hard time recommending this book to kids. However, that said, if you’re a nostalgic adult that loves Depression-era historical fiction, I do recommend. A very pleasing read.

[Melody · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of the ingenuous, folksy narrator. I'm not particularly enamored of the rural Depression setting, as it's been done so many times as to be stale. The ways of the Newbery committee are often opaque to me. All of which is to say that I didn't expect to love this book, but I didn't expect to hate it.

Maybe hate is too strong, but to my eyes it's clearly a first novel, and not particularly strong. There are dangling ends everywhere, and much of the plot seemed either nonsensical or it simply beggared belief. The mystery wasn't very mysterious, nor was it believable. At least it wasn't written in free verse.

There were some anachronisms, I thought. Would a boy in 1918 really say he wasn't "into" something? Or would girls get their "knickers in a knot"? Several of those jarring notes brought me out of the story. There was an arch tone that crept in and annoyed me, as if the author was addressing the adults reading the novel over the heads of the intended audience.

It's very possible, as my friend Barb says, that I'd have disliked it less if it hadn't won the Newbery. I think if it hadn't won the Newbery, I would have taken one look at the cover and went off screaming in the other direction, so it's a moot point.

In the interests of full disclosure, I did not read any of the Newbery Honor books this year, either, so I am not grousing because my pet book didn't win.

[Patricia Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

All through reading this book I thought I would give it 3 stars but after finishing I am moving my score up to 3.5 because the ending of the story dominated the whole story and made everything else worthwhile. This is another of those stories that goes back and foth in time. The present is a young girl who was sent by her father to live with friends from his past. The future is told by a gypsy lady who told everything through stories to this young girl. It was a little confusing to me because one of the main characters had a different name in the past but i knew there was a reason for it. Also, the stories from the past seemed to go on and on and liked the present stories better. It's a good story but a little hard job for me to read at times.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because it won the Newbery, I read it with a more critical eye and was occasionally bothered by prose that seemed to be trying too hard. The 1936 storyline is a bit overshadowed by the 1918 chapters, and I thought we could have gotten to know Abilene a bit better. Still, very enjoyable and I always wanted to pick it up and continue reading.

[Minli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, the only reason I read this book was because it won the Newbery in 2011, and because it won the Newbery, it already had to dig its way out of a 'high-expectations' hole.

The writing is dusty and atmospheric, quaint in a kind of old-town way. During the Great Depression, Abilene's father sends her to live in his old hometown of Manifest. She searches for hints and stories of her father around town, to no avail, but in the meantime, she starts piecing together Miss Sadie's stories, newspaper clippings, letters and other primary source documents from the World War I era. It seems that Manifest is a town of secrets and mystery--and Abilene unraveling the mysteries of 1916 helps depression-era Manifest, too.

It's a solid book, though it didn't hook me until well over halfway. Part of me is annoyed because this is definitely the kind of book teachers and librarians LOVE (stories about stories! American history! primary source documents! the importance of community) but kids roll their eyes at because it's kind of boring. I totally would have. It's Educational with a capital E.

[Julie Durnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great coming of age story. Abilene makes the best of being left with Shady in the town of Manifest. The cast of characters in the present time of Abilene in 1938 and twenty years earlier were wonderfully written. Abilene and her two new friends make great girl detectives in tracing how her father, Gideon, played into the towns history. The melting pot of immigrants that lived in this small town was a small subplot of the whole story.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and charming book, I fell in love with everything about it.. didn't want to leave these people.

Revelations and secrets abound in this book and are no always what you think they will be.

Quick review since I gotta work but highly recommend!

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Sentence Review: A nice enough quirky town book that contains at least one honest surprise at the end (though it probably could have been edited down a smidge).

[Heather~ Nature.books.and.coffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this historical fiction! I listened to this on audio and the narrator was fantastic. Really brings you back to the times. Highly recommend for all ages!!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes I really enjoy a book that shows a story through the eyes of a child. Not because life is perfect, but because there are some great adults that help them, and the child rolls with the punches. I am not sure our children are equipped to do this anymore. This was an interesting tale full of unusual characters and a story told about the past. Abilene learned about home and what that means while gaining an extended family. I listened to the audio book and thoroughly enjoyed Abilene's voice, along with Jinx and Ned. It was sweet and a little sad but overall it made me smile.

[Keturah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did The Hunger Games get so much hype? Moon Over Manifest should be getting the hype. This book was an absolute pleasure (I cannot say that strongly enough!) to read. I honestly loved, loved, loved it. And I don't gush often! Many books for middle age readers are either too simple or try to focus on adult-themed subjects, but this book is a true gem which drew me in from the very beginning. It is definitely going to be one of my favorite books and one which I recommend often to young and older readers in my library. It honestly had timeless appeal, which I think is difficult for writers to capture when writing for middle graders. The mix of 'newspaper columns,' stories, and current events told by Abilene were a brilliant combination and definitely melded together well. I also appreciated how well the author included so many different historical events, facts, figures, and places. This was a wonderful book and a wonderful choice for the Newbery Award. I look forward to more books from Clare Vanderpool.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

At some point, this book wasn’t a Newberry Winner, but a great story, well written. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story has a ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ feel to it, but the book has it’s own charm. It’s great there are still great writers for young people. Enjoy!

[Luisa Knight · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got to page 57, where the main character goes to see a fortune teller, and decided to not finish the book. The fortune teller seemed like she'd be pertinent to the story and I hadn't felt any interest in the characters anyway; it didn't especially help when the main character couldn't even say sorry for being rude to the girls who were trying to befriend her.

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[Masoome · Rating 4 out of 5]

خیلی ناراحتم که تموم شد.
هفت سال پیش دیدمش و توی این مدت به خاطر حجم زیاد نخونده بودمش. اما داستان‌های فوق جذاب در هم پیچیده، فصل‌های کوتاه، روایت ساده و عوامل دیگه باعث شد کتاب رو توی سه وعده بخونم.
+ آخر کتاب ممکنه اشک بریزید.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I am reading all the Newbery winners.

Simple perfection. When I see that Newbery sticker on a book, this is what I expect. A book that truly is a wonderful story that will appeal to kids. A story that catches your attention from the first chapter. One with characters who are interesting, unique and you either love from the start or they eventually win you over at some part. I truly enjoyed every minute of this book and was sad when it came time to close the book on Abilene, Jinx, Miss Sadie and all the rest of the characters in Manifest, Kansas.

Set in 1936, Abilene Tucker, who has grown up as a vagrant train rider with her father, is upset when he sends her to Manifest, a town he spent a spell in his youth to stay with a friend for the summer while he supposedly works a job, not appropriate for a young lady to be around, now that Abilene has turned twelve. Here Abilene makes two friends and finds a hidden cigar box with mementos and letters from 1918 under the floor boards. One is a map of Manifest, there is mention of a spy and the girls set about to find out who the spy was in their town back during WWI and if they are still here. They also come upon the legend of "The Rattler" who wanders the dark forest at night. Is the Rattler the spy, or someone/thing else?

As the girls read the letters we are transported back to 1918 on the war front in France as the letters are from a local boy to a friend named 'Jinx'. We also are taken back to 1918 on the home-front through Miss Sadie, a diviner, as she tells Abilene stories when she comes over to work her garden to repay a large pot she broke snooping about one night.

The story switches perspective between the present, 1936, through the first person narrative of Abilene and the past, 1918, through Miss Sadie's stories, a newspaper column and the letters. A rich engaging story that while not directly linked to any historical events does place one smack dab in the past and creates a good vision of living in a small town during the depression and during World War I, along with an impression of what it was like for a young soldier in the trench warfare of France. Topped off with a large cast of eccentric characters this is a gem of a story. This will be one of the rare modern Newbery's that I think will still be read decades down the road like perennial favourites "Caddie Woodlawn" and "Sounder".

[Sahel.hn · Rating 4 out of 5]

ماه بر فراز مانیفست / کلر وندرپول / کیوان عبیدی آشتیانی / افق
نویسنده فضای خاص و زیبایی رو خلق کرده بود که دوست داشتم و خود داستان هم برام جذابیت داشت، هر چند که گاهی تعلیق‌اش کمی اذیتم می‌کرد.
داستان با این که ژانر کتاب معمایی هم بود، ولی خیلی جنبه‌ی معمایی پیچیده‌ای نداشت و تا حد زیادی (نه همش) قابل حدس بود. فکر می‌کنم خود نویسنده هم آگاهانه این کارو کرده بود و قصدی هم نداشت که یک معمایی پیچیده بنویسه. آخرای داستان یه خرده گیج شده بودم که کی‌به‌کیه یا چی‌به‌چیه (شاید سریع خونده بودم). ولی درکل داستان به نسبت تاثیرگذار بود و ازش لذت بردم.
امتیاز من: 4 / 5
ترجمه: هر چند که مشکلات ویراستاری داشت ولی نهایتا می‌شه گفت خوب بود

[Kezzy Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal, very adulty, story written in the eyes of twelve-year-old Aibelene Tucker, who's digging into secrets she perhaps shouldn't be. Author Clare Vanderpool does a wonderful job in this masterpiece, and I couldn't put the book down.
Events of World War 1 are woven into Depression America, and the struggles of a prohibition era midwestern town are brought to the forefront by the masterful pen of Clare's. Definitely a five-star read.

[kutingtin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to being a kid in the 1900s in old town Iowa, where there’s neighborhood gossip, scandal, plagues, and politics, cliche classmates, mysteries and wierd folks in every borough.


We have our MC, spunky young girl Abi. She’s smart, curious and adventurous. Like her, this town and its people will grow on you.

This is Clare Vanderpool’s debut novel and it got the Newberry medal for it’s distinguished contribution children’s fiction. Every chapter is short and unfolds the lives and goings on around Abi’s new home. In between, there’s Hattie Mae who’s like GossipGirl/Ms.Bridgerton with the latest tea and her column followed by old funny adverts.

It felt like reading KiraKira, A Little Princess and A little house on the prairie all at once.

It took me back to my childhood where we would go out biking to the next town to climb mountains and catch tadpoles in the river -all of which we consider a day to day adventure. m

We would play hide and seek, “patintero”, “langit lupa”, chinese garter and 10-20, make tents on our backyards made of blankets, climb trees, make each one our own and call it the Green Village.

We would spy on our neighbors over the fence who are usually doing laundry, petting their roosters or talking under a mango tree.

The good old days…👧🏻🏘️🌳💛

[Victor The Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Manifest” is a story full of great characters, surprises and two stories that occurs two decades apart in the early 1900s, mainly centering on a young girl sent to this interesting town by her father. Rich in story like a town with great people. A- (91%/Excellent)

[Marjorie Ingall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahaha, when I typed "Moon Over Manifest" into Goodreads's search box, it asked, "Did you mean 'Barf Manifesto'?"

It's not THAT bad.

It's actually pretty good, if slow and schematic. I'd have given it 3.5 stars if I could. Yes, the seams show. Yes, it reads like a debut novel. But it's so sweet, heartfelt and sincere, it's hard to be too down on it. The descriptions of the small-town Kansas setting, life riding the rails, the hardships of the Depression and WWI (yes, the Depression AND WWI; the moves back and forth in time -- plus we have the homefront AND the warfront-- it's a mighty crammed kidbook!) are all so literate and thoughtful, but so TOO MUCH. (This book is the embodiment of that maxim about how when you get dressed to go out at night, check yourself in the mirror and then take off one piece of jewelry. Moon Over Manifest could have taken off three or four pieces.)

But Abilene (the heroine of the Depression part of the story) and Jinx (the hero of the wartime part of the story) are awfully likable, as is Shady, the bootlegger who plays a big part in both their narratives. The stories eventually come together, as you knew they would, but it takes awhile. And while I realize this isn't a concern of the Newbery committee, actual parents should be forewarned that they're going to have to do a LOT of explaining to a typical kid: mining strikes, immigration history, miracle healing elixirs, Prohibition. I think the moral portrait of a town of immigrants from different lands working together toward common goals is a really good lesson for kids today.

My girls liked Turtle in Paradise and A Tale Dark & Grimm much more. I liked those and One Crazy Summer (which Josie rejected in frustration and confusion after 3 or 4 pages because didn't understand who Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali was and why he changed his name, and didn't know that a Boeing 727 was a plane...but I know that if she'd stuck with it she would have loved it too, the stubborn little poop) much more. But hey, that's what makes horse races.

[Elizabeth☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this story takes place in the fictional town of manifest, kansas circa 1936. abilene tucker is sent by her father, gideon, to live in manifest for the summer while he works. abilene is eager to see the town where her father grew up and more eager to find out more about her family roots.

upon arriving, abilene is sent to the last day of school so she can make friends. abilene believes she will be gone before school starts, so she is not so excited about meeting the kids in the town. what ends up unfolding is a beautiful friendship between lettie, ruthanne and abilene.

abilene stays with "preacher" shady. while at his house, she unearths a trove of treasures in a treehouse. in it she finds clues to a young boy, jinx's, past. and so begins her adventures for the summer.

the story vacillates between manifest in 1918 and manifest in 1936. we learn that the town was founded by immigrants and each one has a rich history that has contributed to the town's splendor. abilene also learns more about herself and her father and she learns how to define home.

[The Nutmeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

***reread 2021:

Man what a good book.

Clare Vanderpool really is a genius at foreshadowing. There is no detail left behind.

I noticed this time around that Abilene = Ned in some significant ways. (Oh Abilene. Oh Ned. Oh Jinx. All three of you need hugs.) (And I still want to be Hattie Mae.)

***initial thoughts 2018:

Oh my goodness, it was beautiful!

Where to start? The colorful characters? The masterfully-drawn historical settings? The unique way of switching back and forth between 1918 and 1936? The way every single plot thread and mysterious object and newspaper article, no matter how random it seemed, came together at the end to make a truly beautiful story?

This book defies description. It's sheer loveliness.

[Jessica Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this book for a long time without really knowing what it was about. I was ecstatic when I found it at the library, but less so when I started reading... I considered not finishing it, but decided to stick it through, and boy, am I glad I did!!

Moon Over Manifest is a bittersweet coming-of-age story about finding home and family. It catches your attention from the first chapter and keeps you hooked until the end!

April 2025 reread: I think I loved this book even more this time around! I was full on crying by the end 🥺

[Chloe the MovieCritic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was a gorgeous story.

I probably don't need to say more, yet I did. Quite a lot, too. Read my full review here:
https://moviesmeetmatch.blogspot.com/...