The Moonlight Man

by Betty Ren Wright

Since their mother died, fifteen-year-old Jenny Joslin and her little sister, Allie, have moved seven times with their father, who is trying to put the past behind them. Jenny finally feels at home when she sees their new house in the woods -- until a restless young man appears on the back porch. Solemn, handsome, silent -- he can only be seen in the dark. He doesn't respond to Jenny's voice. And he will not leave until he gets what he came for. Now, it's up to Jenny to figure out who he is -- and why he is terrorizing the residents of Crescent Lane. They all seem so innocent. But are they?

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Childrens, Paranormal, Ghost Stories

192 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Betty Ren Wright was an award-winning author of children's fiction including The Dollhouse Murders, The Ghosts Of Mercy Manor and A Ghost in The House.

Known for her ghost stories and mysteries, Wright published 28 children's novels between 1981 and 2006, as well as picture books and short stories. Prior to pursuing her career as a full-time author in 1978, she worked as an editor of children's books.

Wright lived in Wisconsin with her husband, painter George A. Fredericksen, until her death in 2013.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very quickly (on Open library) skimmed through Betty Ren Wright's The Moonlight Man on October 9, 2024 (The Moonlight Man being both a middle grade ghost story and also focusing on issues such as grief/loss and a family trying to rather unsuccessfully escape their traumas through repeated moves) and with me also having the full intention of revisiting The Moonlight Man later in October for a more in-depth perusal. However, since Open Library has been off-line for more than ten days now after its parent company The Internet Archive experienced a security breach (was hacked in other words) and because I have way too many books currently on the go, I am (for now at least) going to post a review based primarily if not solely on my reading feelings whilst skimming over The Moonlight Man (but that I am definitely planning on revisiting The Moonlight Man when Open Library is online and available once again).

Now with The Moonlight Man, Betty Ren Wright for the most part tells a nicely suspenseful ghost story (and one that is rather frightening but also and thankfully so not ever too creepy and with no gratuitous violence or exaggerated gruesomeness), but to be perfectly truthful and in my humble opinion, Ren Wright also leaves some frustrating narrative holes, she has a few textual shortcomings so to speak in The Moonlight Man that do make me rather groan.

For one and what has probably most bothered me on a textual level, much of the frame story Ren Wright provides in The Moonlight Man feels incomplete and with narrative threads left dangling, going nowhere, so that readers do know main protagonist Jenny Joslin's mother is dead, that Jenny, her younger sister Allie and even more so their father are grieving, are having trouble coping and also keep moving, keep relocating, but well, this is kind of all as there appears so to speak. And yes, to and for me, The Moonlight Man absolutely does require considerably more textual information on Jenny's mother dying and that the on-the-surface backstory, that the narrative frame of The Moonlight Man shows textual promise but is not at all sufficiently developed by Betty Ren Wright to be readable and to feel sufficiently interesting.

And for two, while the ghost story presented in The Moonlight Man is both engaging and enjoyable on a general level (and also reads a bit like a mystery), with shortly after her family's latest move, narrator Jenny Joslin and her family experiencing all kinds of supernatural occurrences (photographs appearing and disappearing from the wall, loud sobbing noises emerging from neighbour April's house, a sequence of household disasters next door that seem to be connected to the moonlight man of the book title), sorry, but two-dimensional characters (both primary and secondary ones), contrived plot details and the undeveloped subplot of Jenny's friendship with self-centred April do tend to make The Moonlight Man adequate but also in no way special enough textually and thematically speaking for a higher than three star rating (but if upon rereading The Moonlight Man in-depth and not through skimming, my enjoyment of Betty Ren Wright's presented text increases, yes, I will definitely consider upping my rating).

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenny, her little sister (Allie) and her father have moved around a lot since the death of her mom. Jenny can always tell when her dad is about to get restless and move on. But Jenny likes this new house and neighborhood she's moved into - even with the grouchy Carpeks next door. Afterall, Mike and Kathy Burton are a nice young couple and a new girl named April, who is Jenny's age, has just moved in next door. So when the shadowy figure and his dog appear on the back porch, Jenny and Allie don't tell anyone. Soon, though, there is whistling and footsteps echoing through their house and sobbing coming from behind a locked door in April's basement. Jenny is determined to find out who these ghosts are and why they are roaming in her neighborhood - and why do they seem to be picking on the Carpeks?

[Shanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenny and her sister are excited about moving to their new house... until... they find out it's haunted! Jenny knows if her dad finds out about the weird goings-on, he'll make them move again, so she works to unravel the mystery in order to figure out how to get the ghost to rest in peace. I liked the characters right from the start, and the storyline was very engaging. The ghost part was mysterious but not too spooky-scary.

[Edhriz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a kid and I loved it for some reason I can't recall.

[Wesley Shively · Rating 5 out of 5]

After five and half years of fifteen-year old Jenny's mother died, Jenny, her little sister Allie, and her father moved 7 times. They find a house, where Jenny feels instantly at home.

As soon as they step inside, Jenny feels something a bit weird. She embarks on a journey to solve then mystery of the place.

[Elizabeth Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I prefer ghost mysteries where the ghost is likable or friendly. This was definitely not one of those. Although I liked the main character and her little sister, a lot of the other characters did not appeal to me. I usually enjoy Betty Ren Wright’s books, so I was a little disappointed with this one.

[LuAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wright’s realistic protagonists learn and grow like Jenny does in this which gives her ghosts stories a deeper theme than most—and why I like them. Whereas, often there are only a few characters, all three sets of neighbors are significant to the story which lends an added dimension. Since this one is darker than most, it’s more suited to a slightly older audience.

[Lily Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like horror or creepy books, I would say that this is a pretty good book. This is definitely meant for younger audiences (later elementary to middle school), but I would say it's a pretty good book overall.

[lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a core memory for me and probably a reason I’m into mystery/paranormal/thriller books.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the five and a half years since their mother died, fifteen-year-old Jenny Joslin and her six-year-old sister Allie have moved seven times with their father, who is trying to put the past behind them. When Jenny sees their new house, nestled with four other houses in a woodsy, remote area, she feels instantly at home.

But almost as soon as they walk in the door, weird things start happening: First, there's the picture on the wall of Allie's room that keeps appearing, then disappearing. Then, one night Jenny and Allie are in their backyard and think they see a man sitting on their back step with a dog. When Jenny calls to the man, he does not respond, but both shadows drift across the yard and disappear. Jenny and Allie call the man the "Moonlight Man" because they think it may have just been the moonlight playing tricks on their eyes. But the Moonlight Man is a ghost, and he returns again and again.

The Jolliness aren't the only ones with unusual things happening at their house. Their neighbor April has heard a woman sobbing in her basement. As Jenny and April try to get to the bottom of the mystery, they learn the Moonlight Man's sad story, and try to help reunite him with the ghost of his lost love.

[Kate Cardenas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A neighborhood with a dark secret greets a family with a tragic past in this critically acclaimed ghost story -- now in paperback!

Since their mother died, fifteen-year-old Jenny Joslin and her little sister, Allie, have moved seven times with their father, who is trying to put the past behind them. Jenny finally feels at home when she sees their new house in the woods . . . until a restless young man appears on the back porch.
Handsome, silent, mysterious - he can only be seen in the dark. He doesn't respond to Jenny's voice. And he will not leave until he gets what he came for.
Now it's up to Jenny to figure out who he is - and why he is haunting the residents of Crescent Lane. They all seem so innocent. But are they?

[Eden Silverfox · Rating 3 out of 5]

In five years Jenny and her little sister Allie have moved seven times with their father.

Jenny loves their new home in the woods and really hopes this will be their last move. But, Jenny soon realizes that her family isn't the only one in the house.

Strange things begin to happen and Jenny feels she has to solve the mystery to stop what's going on.

I think this book moves a little slow at first, but it does pick up and get really good. It's not one of my favorites by this author, but it is good story and when it picked up, I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

I think Jenny was my favorite character in this. She was brave and pretty much solved the mystery herself. Good book. I'd give it three and a half stars.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story focus on three children who's mother had died and their father just moved from place to place until they arrived at a new house in the woods. Happy to find a wonderful place was marred by a ghost or was it more than one ghost which visited not only their house but the houses of others in this group of houses. I enjoyed reading this one and loved the surprise ending.

[Juan Jose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend this book to Nicolas Rengifo because he is very fearful and this book shows many scenes of terror, also I will recommend this book to him because he does not like long books and this is not long. I not only recommend this to Nicolas but to all students and teachers that like terror books.

[Madison · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book because it was boring. This book wasn't interesting at all. This book is okay if you like reading uninteresting things. Thoughout the whole book I was bored out of my mind. I don't recommend this book to anyone.

[Rome · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Moonlight Man is great because of the different things that happen and more.It is great.

[Arien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy neighbors and real ghosts.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this author growing up so when I found this book for $1 at the Scholastic Book Fair, I couldn't pass it up. It was good, but not as good as my favorite by her.

[Aruna Bubblez · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book i read when i was younger

[De'lindra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book The moonlight man is very scary because he start to mess with the family.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Betty Ren Wright's ghost stories as a kid.

[Tiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book for teens. Lacked a few details that as an adult I would have liked to known, but that's just me!! Kept me reading it! :-)