Moon Pie

by Simon Mason

Eleven-year-old Martha is used to being the one who has to keep her head. Tug, her little brother, is too small. Dad is too strange. And Mum's not here any more. So when Dad falls off the roof, it's Martha who ices his knee and takes him to the doctor. And when Dad doesn't come home, it's Martha who cooks Tug's favourite pie and reads him his bedtime story. And when Dad passes out, it's Martha who cleans him up and keeps his secret. But eventually Dad's problems become too big for even Martha to solve. There is only one person who can sort things out now. Dad.

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Family, Young Adult, Childrens, Novels

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Simon Mason was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, on 5 February 1962. He was educated at local schools and studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He splits his time between writing at home and a part-time editorial position with David Fickling Books, an imprint of Random House and publisher of his 2011 children's novel, Moon Pie.

He is the author of the Quigleys series for young readers: The Quigleys (Highly Commended in the UK's Branford Boase Award), The Quigleys at Large, The Quigleys Not for Sale, and The Quigleys in a Spin. He has also written three adult novels.

Simon lives in Oxford with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book that has been nominated for Children's Book of the Year with our Children's Book Group. I am reading all the shortlist first before they are given to the Children. Aimed at 8-12 year olds.
Martha is 11 and has a lot of responsibility, she's used to being in charge and staying calm, since her mum dies she's had to help look after her 5 year old brother Tug and also care for her dad who keeps acting 'strange'. This is principally a story about Alcoholism, and toldd through Martha's point of view. It's really chilling but also heart warming to see her discover what's wrong with her dad and also work to try and 'fix' everything. Tug offers a bit of comic relief but also pulls your heart strings - his view of events is very often focused on food and sleep - the main focus of any young child, but when he asks Martha about his Dad and what will happen to them, it melts your heart.
For a children's book it is quite a strong topic - but I know there are a lot of kids that go through this sort of thing so this helps others and them have an understanding of what is happening to them.
I didn't think I would like this book and for the first 50 or so pages I still wasn't sure, but I became connected to Martha and wanted to know what happened to her and little Tug.
This is one of those books that I would suggest parents read with their children so if they have any questions, you can answer them, Also good for discussion.
Not everyone's cup of tea, but a good heart-felt story. Well researched and delicately handled. Kudos to the writer for handling such a sensitive subject.

[L Y N N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This was not at all what I expected, just an enjoyable children's book. It was so much more and so much better than that! So happy for Martha in the end!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent middle grade book (very much enjoyed by an adult!). A beautiful story centering on an 11 year old girl whose family is grieving. Her dad is slowly unraveling and she tries to keep up by making lists of tasks related to caring for her brother, the house, her dad. At some point the need surpasses her ability to keep up. Can they remain safely with their dad? Can they heal?

Well written and thought provoking.

[Peanut Buster McGall]

Read this when I was 10 and I remember not fully understanding it but still feeling the weight of your parents. Complex, flawed creatures who you don’t understand until you look back when you reach their age.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first couple of chapters of this book and put it down for a day. I wasn't sure I wanted to read about a family with a missing parent, due to my own life right now. But, I picked it up again yesterday and then couldn't put it down.

Martha Luna's mother has died, leaving 11-year-old Martha to deal with her little brother, Tug, and Dad. Martha is a very capable 11-year-old, but she is just 11 and is trying to deal with grown-up problems a girl shouldn't have to face.

There's something wrong with Dad. He gets them up in the middle of the night for a picnic, falls off the front of the house, trying to climb in when they're locked out, forgets to take them to school or pick them up, etc. Dad has a serious drinking problem.

Martha discovers her talents as the story progresses and learns the power of forgiveness and trust.

It turned out to be a pretty good read, which I would recommend to the 3rd and 4th grade girls in my life.

[Wanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this is supposed to be a children's book, but I would not recommend it for any child. It did not live up to my expectations. The story line concerning an 11-year-old girl coping with an alcoholic father while being the responsible person in a motherless home is not entertainment for a child, plus the main character's best friend is a 12-year-old cross dressing boy who is very confused. Parts of the book are very sweet, others disturbing. A good read for discerning adults, but not for everyone.

[Kayla517 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about 2 kids Martha (11) and Tug (5) and their widow dad. The dad has been acting strange but don’t exactly know why until after one awkward dinner a friend tells Martha about what she think the dad is doing behind the scenes. Martha tries to deal with responsibilities with taking care of her dad and younger brother while also keeping the mishaps to herself out of fear her grandparents will get involved and call social services.

The cover of the book doesn’t have a very detailed summary so I was unsure at first because there wasn’t a specific plot going on and was more of a “Read as you go.” I liked the characters so I kept reading and it got more interesting the longer you read it. The book was both sad because the kids dealing with the absence of their parents but also funny because of Tugs random questions and her friend Marcus obsession with filming movies and the way he talks. The book was predictable in a way but did have a plot twist at the climax that was funny.

I would recommend because it gave a good idea of what some family situations are like as long if you aren’t sensitive to things related to people being sick or traumatized. The book was also easy to understand because there wasn’t too much characters or settings going on. I give 4 stars.

[Twyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite part was when Martha decided to start acting rather than designing costumes for Marcus to act i, and it turned out that she was good enough at it that she managed to get the part of Anne. My least favourite part was when, after her dad promised to stop, he didn't and they ended up in a car accident and living with their grandparents.

[Em]

At first I thought it was an innocent child's book but, i was clearly mistaken. This book consists of a little girl and her brother, and how they struggle with their dad who's grieving with the loss of their mother. They bathe him and take care of him as he is now an alcoholic. Its a very sad book but would totally recommend it to anyone who likes more of a reality read.

[:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is way darker than I remember, I hadn't read it in years and honestly forgot about it. Moon Pie used to be one of my favorite books ever, I kept re-reading it any chance I got and man! A lot of the book just went over my head. This book just reminds of my all time favorite author as a child Jacqueline Wilson and all her stories.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely don't judge this book by its cartoon-like cover. This is an exceedingly well written story of an eleven year old girl dealing with an unpredictable alcoholic father while juggling housework, school, taking care of her five year old brother and dodging social services and her disapproving grandparents. It seems a bit grim for middle graders, but maybe I'm underestimating kids today.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!

[Leah Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. This was a good book about family and dreams, and if you are a fan of family dramas read this great book about protecting and helping family.

[Elle A · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. At first I was finding it really difficult finding the right book for my likings because I am a very fussy book finder. So I asked a few people on which book I should borrow and I came around to Jess. She showed me a few books but I said no. Then she found me Moon Pie. I read the blurb and a few pages and I liked it, so I borrowed it and it is really good. I wanted to read it because it is sad and heart-warming. I thought that it would be a nice loving and caring story that I would love to read! I am expecting there dad to die and then Martha has to look after her brother all alone.

2. So far the story is very spectacular. I am getting to know all the characters and all of their special qualities. It is getting deeper into the story and I am really enjoying it. As I read more they describe more which makes me more excitable to keep reading. Martha is becoming braver and less scared and anxious she is starting to calm her thoughts down. Although her dad is still the same. Very bubbly and almost acts like a child. All the characters have gained a quality each chapter I read. I particularly like Martha as she is strong and thoughtful and always has room in her heart to forgive her father for all the childish mischief he is constantly up to. Even though her father does all these silly and stupid things she still loves him for who he is. He just sometimes goes way out of the box with all he’s ideas which always makes Martha and her brother tug really worried. Also it makes them feel quite sorry for their dad since he has been acting weird since their mother died, and how he is out of his mind and desperately needs a girlfriend which their first attempt failed.

3. This book it one of my favourite books of all time. It made me cry a few times and also made me laugh. All these emotions in one. I didn’t expect any of the book how it ended up. My prediction was wrong but the even though it was a really sad book at the end of it, there was a really happy ending. I really enjoyed this book because it just said so much and there were so many problems and solutions, which made it more emotional for the reader. This book teaches people how to look after your siblings, or even parents. All my thoughts about it were so great that I just couldn’t stop reading it. I stayed up most of the night trying to find out one thing in the book. I would recommend it to anyone who needed to find a book, because this is one of my most liked books and am sure most people will like it. It was fantastic finding out all her dad’s secrets and being detectives and spy’s it really made me think that I was actually in the story with the characters. This book also has a really important saying that I try to remember when am angry ‘Someone has to keep their head around here’.

[Angie Fehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

So about this story -- it looks at the life of 11 year old Martha. Martha's mother passed away just a few years back, so it's just Martha trying to be the woman of the house, living with her father and younger brother. While she's still struggling with sadness from the loss of her mother, the family is managing well enough... at least for a time. Then cracks start to show. Martha's father starts to get bad about just wandering off at odd times, leaving his kids to fend for themselves for hours at a time and with no notice of his whereabouts. This sometimes leads to him getting in dangerous situations that Martha has to help get him out of. Pretty heavy stuff for a girl not even in her teen years yet!

But the heaviness doesn't quit there, y'all. Nope, the reader also gets smacked with themes of depression and battles with alcoholism -- the disease itself, the hiding of it, the denial, the rocky road to accepting help or rehab.

Martha's an impressively resilient kid but it broke my heart reading her struggle to keep it all together at her age -- checking out adult books on alcoholism on a children's library card, trying to help her father process his own widower grief, Martha's own breakdown when things get especially low. I so wanted to hug this character, knowing the story well having grown up with an alcoholic father myself.

I definitely think this little novel can serve as an important tool for kids in a similar situation looking for something they can relate to and maybe pull inspiration from -- because while thankfully this story doesn't end ugly, it does definitely lean on the idea of "it's gonna get worse before it can get better.". While I appreciated the topics and potential discussion material the main story brought up, at times I was SO grateful for the comedic relief of Martha's precocious friend Marcus. Marcus who's one of those 11 going on 45 types, has his heart set on becoming a big-time Hollywood director, constantly putting together homemade theatrical productions, filming them, creating costumes, pulling inspiration from classic silver screen films. His Rex Harrison-esque personality had me smiling just when I needed a break from the heavy.


Note To Readers: There are a few spoilers to other novels within this book's plotline. So heads up if these are on your future reading list, spoilers present for Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

[Kathleen Lake cusick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some things just get better when taken with a little pie, at least that’s what Martha’s little brother Tug thinks anyway. Martha Luna is not so sure. Ever since Mum died, Dad has been behaving badly. Climbing up drainpipes, and falling off roofs, staying out late, and forgetting her at after school activities. Martha is okay with it, she takes care of things, just like mum used to do. She stays after school for cookery class to learn how to make steak and kidney pie for Tug, and sews and fixes things, but some things an eleven year old can’t fix.
Martha wonders why Dad never speaks of mum, but wanders out to the woodshed late at night and just sits, and stares. She wants to try to be a family again, even missing mum more than she can bear, but when she tries to get Dad to do things, it usually doesn’t work out. Like when they went to the swimming baths and dad insisted on trying out the diving pool, even though it was closed. The worst part was, Dad forgot they were supposed to be lunching with Grandmom and Grandpop. Dad forgot a lot lately. Like the time he forgot to wait for Doctor Woodley’s call, when they were all trying to make sure he got the help he needed. If he didn’t, their family would change again, forever.
Martha and Tug didn’t want to go to live with anyone else, like Grandmom said would happen if she was forced to call Social Services, but Dad couldn’t seem to get it right. Even though he promised, getting it right was not something he was good at anymore. Martha kept lists and she tires to keep order, she takes care of the house and her little brother, but will it be enough? Find out the power of love and family and how Martha can learn to trust again, in this powerful book about forgiveness and redemption.

[Jen Sombrotto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually liked this book more than I thought I would. I picked up this book at one of those Little Free Library stands, solely because the cover looked cute and it's been a while since I've read a children's story. I also really loved the title, (I love anything that has to do with the moon and stars). Reading the back of the book, I thought this was going to be a completely different story than it wound up being. It started out slow and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get into it, but I kept reading it and I'm glad I did, because it got significantly more interesting a little more than a quarter of the way through. Though this is a children's story, it covers a very dark topic, that topic being alcoholism. Told through the eyes of a young eleven year old whose mother recently passed away, she struggles to "keep her head" while taking care of her five year old brother and trying to help her alcoholic father quit his habit. I think this is a very good story for the age group of about ten to thirteen years old. The author, Simon Mason, did a really good job at showing how alcoholism can affect a family and how there's always a beacon of light out there, you just have to keep aiming for it.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

After her mother dies and her father seeks solace in a poorly hidden drinking habit, eleven-year-old Martha takes on more and more responsibilities around the house and with her little brother, Tug. But will she crack under the pressure?

This is a tricky one because the cover is very young-looking, but the subject matter is more appropriate for older children - 11 and 12 year olds. The writing, especially the first few pages, is very British and could be a turn-off for kids who have never heard some of these British colloquialisms. I liked Martha and her will to appear normal, but her dialogue with her father didn't always feel authentic. Some of the scenes of her father's alcohol abuse were achingly sad and somewhat disturbing, providing a seemingly real picture of alcholism and how it can affect every member of a family in different ways. I liked Martha's friends, too, they were quirky and supportive when she needed them. The end, though, was too bow-wrappy for my taste, although I can see how some readers would prefer a fixed family.

[Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really great book. 11 year old Martha is a smart young girl. She and her brother Tug live with their father. Years before, Tug and Martha's mom died. Their father is strange. He has acting weird since his wife died. After Martha hears what happend to Laura's dad, she gets suspious that her father is an aloholic. Her grandma and grandpa suspect this too,and tell her dad they will call social services if anything else happens. He stops drinking and changes, for now.... He drops Martha off at costumes club to meet her friend Marcus. She was told by her dad, that he was taking Tug to the cinema. After being hours late, her father shows. He is drunk, and Martha can tell it. He is talking rediculously fast, and driving crazily. When rounding a bend to fast, Martha is transported to the hospital with a broken collarbone. Her grandparents call social services, and it is all over for Martha, Tug, and especially their father.

[Rach (pagesofpiper) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful heart-warming, heart-breaking, heart-wrenching book! Just full of heart!

Martha and Tug are two children whose mum has passed away, they're on their own with Dad. But there is one word to describe Dad and that's 'strange'. You instantly get pulled into their family life and begin to enjoy life through Martha and Tug's eyes.

Martha is eleven and has to 'keep her head' because she's eleven. I'm not going to spoiler why her Dad is strange because you really have to read it and find out how Martha finds out from an eleven year old perspective. Martha is a very grown-up eleven year old, as she has to be with three people to care for! I love how she discovers how much fun being a child can be.

Tug's point of view is very humourous, he sees life through food, some of his comments are really funny.

A very good book, entertaining and informative.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover of this book makes you think it is for 3rd or 4th graders, but this really should be read by older children. The protagonist of the book is an 11-year-old girl, so I think maybe 6th or 7th graders would be able to handle the topic of alcoholism and its impact on a family. The story here is of Martha, who, with her mother recently dead, is left to try to keep her family together. But Dad is acting strange and it gets harder and harder for Martha to take care of her little brother. The reader is quite a bit into the book when you realize Dad has become an alcoholic. The author handles the issue in a matter-of-fact way so that you are almost surprised at the dissolution of Martha's family.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moon Pie deals with a number of tough issues in straight forward and sometimes humorous ways. Martha and her little brother, Tug's world has been changed significantly since their Mothers sudden death. Their father refuses to talk about their mother and says they must move on with their lives. Although the Dad wants to appear that he has everything under control his actions say otherwise. As their father's behavior becomes more and more erratic Martha struggles with keeping her family together. I enjoyed this book and felt a strong connection to Martha and Tug who had to be brave and stick together as things were crumbling around them. Would love to see another book with these characters to see how life turned out for them.

[Susan Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a British title about an 11-year-old girl whose father is becoming an alcoholic. Martha's mom died in a car accident two years ago. Since then, she's taken over a lot of the household duties, as well as helping with her little brother, Tug. Martha is moving on as best can, but it seems that that won't be so easy for her father. As he begins to drink more and more, Martha does her best to keep things running smoothly, but ultimately, after he drinks and drives with her in the car, the children are removed from the home. An honest look at what alcoholism does to a family.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover doesn't imply that this is going to be such a serious book. But it is. It is about having an alcoholic father who is not in control. And 11-year-old Martha feels like she has to fix everything. But it is also about Martha and her brother Tug and their friends, of whom I have to say Marcus is fabulous. A budding costume designer who prefers fur on everything. Lovely. Despite the serious moments and a lot of upset and heartbreak, things turn out okay in the end. But it is a process to get there.

[Citra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review is here : @Fictionbookreview.com

I didn't know what this book is about until I read it. Judging from the cover, I thoughy it was food related or at least a guide for children on how to make pie.

Moon Pie is nothing like that. At all. It is a much darker stories where pie is only icing on the cake. Moon Pie is a story of an eleven year old Martha who struggles with her father's alcoholism.

A great read. I think it is more suitable for children who are 12 years old or older, though.

[Cami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moon Pie was an absolutely amazing book! It had sad, happy, frustrating, and just brilliant moments! This book was really easy to read, and well written, too. I would recommend it to kids 9-14. If you haven't read it, READ IT!!!!! It was SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm telling you, if you're in the age range, you MUST READ IT!!!!!!!

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

For older elementary
The cover and title are deceiving as it looks like a light read but the story is about a young girl's struggle with an alcoholic father. Her mother has passed away and her father becomes worse each day. She tries to hide her and her brother's situation until everything comes to a head.

[Kyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nuanced look at alcoholism strictly through the lens of a child - why is Daddy so strange lately? Why is he acting the way he does? Like the children, it takes the reader some time to figure out what is the problem and to be just as angry and hurt as they are when he fails them again and again.
I hate to pick on book design but this cover feels completely wrong for this book too.

[Jbaccon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover of this book is deceptive. It looks somewhat light-hearted but deals with the very real experience of alcoholism and it's impact on a family. The tough 11-year old character of Martha is so beautifully drawn I felt...made me sob at times in sharing the deep and conflicting emotions she experiences. The ending? Not so sure...

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and compelling story about 11 year old Martha and her 5 year old brother and how they cope with their mother's death and their father's alcoholism. I think it may appeal to a small segment of students.