The Moon Children

by Beverley Brenna

Eleven-year-old Billy Ray, whose alcoholic father has suddenly disappeared, and his schoolmate, Natasha, an adopted Romanian girl, find solace in each others strength and courage as each reaches for their dreams. Original.

Genres: Canada, Middle Grade

140 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2007

About the author

Beverley Brenna calls Saskatoon, Saskatchewan home base, and loves to travel (both for real, and through reading)!

She published her first poem in The Western Producer at age seven. From this point, she was hooked on writing!

Much of what she writes contains autobiographical scenes, such as the "friendship soup" in The Keeper of the Trees, and the care and keeping of a pet tarantula in Spider Summer.

She has worked as a babysitter, home daycare mom, clerk steno, draftsperson, caregiver for orphan lambs, teacher, and university professor as well as a writer and storyteller.

Reviews

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me of one of my favorite middle grades novel, Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. Mockingbird, a story about an autistic girl told from her point-of-view, provides a window into how someone who is different thinks. Moon Children is similar, except that the narrator of this book, Billy, was born with fetal alcohol syndrome, so he has not learned to read and sometimes has difficulty remembering things. He meets a Romanian girl who had grown up in a Romanian orphanage and was adopted by a wealthy American family. Billy and the girl form an unlikely friendship.
I read Mockingbird aloud to my class this year and managed to not get emotional too much. But there are places in The Moon Children where I would probably not be able to continue reading.

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. It’s about two neighbors/schoolmates who become great friends, and how they deal with their problems. Billy was born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorder, and so he struggles with typical day stuff; and Natasha is an adopted Romanian child who never speaks. I wouldn’t say that I really liked the characters, but the storyline was great. There’s this lingering feeling when you’re reading the book, like you want to put the book down, because you don’t want to know what’s going to happen next for you’re afraid of what’s coming, but you just can’t.
For both of the children they just have so many feelings inside, but they can’t express them or let them go, but finally when they meet they can just let it go. They both live a difficult life, and how they come through is what really gets you into this book.

[Janna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very well-done. About a middle-grade reading level, I'd say. The main character, Billy, has FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) and his characterization was very good. The story is sweet and while it does fall into some of the usual tropes the characters are unique enough that it's not a bad thing.

[Marguerita Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about two young children, one with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and the other with a form of depression, they are able to understand each other and help each other. It was refreshing to read this book as it lets people know that even with a disability of any kind each person has a purpose in our world.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting friendship between a disabled boy and an oversees adopted girl. Not everything is resolved though but the ending is unexpected. Reviewed for the Dolly Gray Award.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depicts sweet boy with fetal alcohol syndrome who helps adopted girl from Romania to cope.