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Austin Family Chronicles #2
The Moon by Night
Vicky Austin is filled with uncertainties about everything. Her parents call it Vicky's "difficult year." But fourteen-year-old Vicky is not so consumed with her problems that she can't enjoy the exciting adventures of her family's summer cross-country camping trip.
In the course of their travels Vicky meets Zachary, an intriguing but troubled boy who latches on to Vicky. And still another boy, Andy, altogether different from Zachary, soon becomes his rival.
Far from the comfort and security that the family has always known, and in spite of the trials they encounter on the road, the Austins enjoy each other and the sights from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back again. And for the first time Vicky feels the mixed emotions of friendship and love.
In the course of their travels Vicky meets Zachary, an intriguing but troubled boy who latches on to Vicky. And still another boy, Andy, altogether different from Zachary, soon becomes his rival.
Far from the comfort and security that the family has always known, and in spite of the trials they encounter on the road, the Austins enjoy each other and the sights from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back again. And for the first time Vicky feels the mixed emotions of friendship and love.
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First published January 1, 1963
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About the author
Madeleine L'Engle
169 books9,188 followersMadeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.
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June 3, 2022
I vaguely remember the first time I read Madeleine L'Engle's The Moon by Night in 1981 that while I really enjoyed reading about the Austins' across much of the continental USA (and a tiny bit of Western Canada) summer camping road-trip, I also rather continuously felt as though I was missing quite a lot of important and seemingly necessary prior Austin Family knowledge and details (but indeed, I also did not at all realise that The Moon by Night was in fact not a stand-alone novel until I read and totally loved the first book of the series, until I had the chance to read Meet the Austins in 2016).
So this time reading The Moon by Night, I actually and once again (and just like in 1981) have gleaned most of my reading pleasure and joy from Madeleine L'Engle's (through first person narrator Vicky Austin's) depictions and descriptions of the family's camping trip (both driving to the specific and chosen camp-sites and then what happens after the Austins have set up their tents), a bit like a presented USA geography lesson (as well as the discussed differences between Canada and the United States when the Austins are camping in Alberta), but without the usual tedium and general dryness of in-class teaching and learning (except that during the course of The Moon by Night oldest brother John Austin does tend to often feel more than a bit preachy and full of himself and his supposed font of knowledge, sometimes even to the point of him appearing annoyingly like the typical and frustrating Smart Alec type, always pontificating, always or at least far too often willfully bragging and showing off to both his parents and in particular to his younger sisters Vicky and Suzy, but not as much with youngest brother Rob).
And yes, even though in The Moon by Night Vicky Austin's constant with heavy teenaged angst imbued musings and worries do start to wear a bit thin and to become something I really would rather wish to avoid (or to at least just skim over whilst reading), and that I personally do tend to find especially potential love interest Zachary majorly problematic and later on during the trip new possible love interest Andy as just a bit too good and too perfect to be true, it is in fact John's constant put-downs of Zachary and his relentless condescension of and generally pretty intense nastiness towards Vicky and lack sympathy for his sister that I have definitely found the most personally annoying and infuriating part of The Moon by Night (and actually considerably more so than Zachary's behaviour and antics, even though I do full well know and realize he is indeed pretty bad news and not AT ALL someone positive).
Therefore, albeit that I have definitely found The Moon by Night a generally very much enjoyable reading experience (and one that I certainly feel is full full full of interesting bits and pieces of geography, of cultural and political considerations, and indeed also because many of them are so delightfully and datedly 1960s), that Madeleine L'Engle focusses (in my opinion) bit too much and too intensely on Vicky Austin's growing pains and onset of puberty issues and that brother John Austin is too often simply arrogant and full of himself and always seemingly on Vicky's case so to speak (especially with regard to romance and her acquaintance with Zachary), yes, this has certainly made The Moon by Night at times a bit tedious and frustrating to read and as such not yet a four star but only a high three star rating for The Moon by Night.
So this time reading The Moon by Night, I actually and once again (and just like in 1981) have gleaned most of my reading pleasure and joy from Madeleine L'Engle's (through first person narrator Vicky Austin's) depictions and descriptions of the family's camping trip (both driving to the specific and chosen camp-sites and then what happens after the Austins have set up their tents), a bit like a presented USA geography lesson (as well as the discussed differences between Canada and the United States when the Austins are camping in Alberta), but without the usual tedium and general dryness of in-class teaching and learning (except that during the course of The Moon by Night oldest brother John Austin does tend to often feel more than a bit preachy and full of himself and his supposed font of knowledge, sometimes even to the point of him appearing annoyingly like the typical and frustrating Smart Alec type, always pontificating, always or at least far too often willfully bragging and showing off to both his parents and in particular to his younger sisters Vicky and Suzy, but not as much with youngest brother Rob).
And yes, even though in The Moon by Night Vicky Austin's constant with heavy teenaged angst imbued musings and worries do start to wear a bit thin and to become something I really would rather wish to avoid (or to at least just skim over whilst reading), and that I personally do tend to find especially potential love interest Zachary majorly problematic and later on during the trip new possible love interest Andy as just a bit too good and too perfect to be true, it is in fact John's constant put-downs of Zachary and his relentless condescension of and generally pretty intense nastiness towards Vicky and lack sympathy for his sister that I have definitely found the most personally annoying and infuriating part of The Moon by Night (and actually considerably more so than Zachary's behaviour and antics, even though I do full well know and realize he is indeed pretty bad news and not AT ALL someone positive).
Therefore, albeit that I have definitely found The Moon by Night a generally very much enjoyable reading experience (and one that I certainly feel is full full full of interesting bits and pieces of geography, of cultural and political considerations, and indeed also because many of them are so delightfully and datedly 1960s), that Madeleine L'Engle focusses (in my opinion) bit too much and too intensely on Vicky Austin's growing pains and onset of puberty issues and that brother John Austin is too often simply arrogant and full of himself and always seemingly on Vicky's case so to speak (especially with regard to romance and her acquaintance with Zachary), yes, this has certainly made The Moon by Night at times a bit tedious and frustrating to read and as such not yet a four star but only a high three star rating for The Moon by Night.
August 27, 2019
I kind of miss the feeling of domestic peacefulness and wholesomeness that I got reading the first book (though as everyone and their brother seem to say 🤭, "comparison is odious") but I guess it goes with having the Austins travel across the country than living in a house in the country, with the good old fashioned ways that this brings with it, and also Vicky, the member of the Austin family who narrates the whole series, growing up, with the the questions and difference in perspective and the new acquaintances that growing up brings with it. So it's understandable why everyone seems to change, why there are maybe more arguments, more conflicting feelings, more doubts and insecurities. The narrative is mostly about Vicky's making sense of what she sees and experiences, of the beauty and quirkiness and not-so-pleasant aspects of the different states from her country, trying to see the world through a new acquaintance, Zachary Grey's eyes (who is by the way a recurring character throughout the Chronos and the Kairos series and not so likable as I had hoped), trying to adjust her own feelings and worldview to what others think about the world. Thus, with a hovering feeling of imminent war, riots and strikes brewing all over the planet, of doubt and uncertainty, of questioning God's love and mercy, the book surely does not lack serious and grave subjects as neither did the first book in the series, though the love and comftyness that used to hover over Thornhill life (their previous peaceful, country life you and certainly Vicky could say) is absent, and Vicky makes herself believe that the family no longer offers her that assurance and understanding (especially John's - his is more prominent and vociferous - and the parents' obvious distrust and dislike - as in the case of the former - of Zachary is a good enough reason for that) feeling even that her family were holding her back from growing up and being herself - her words, which reminded me much of my own process of growing up and finding myself out, though writing and reading and most certainly God's love and mercy did help a lot. Living in Thornhill offered security but meeting the world at large surely has the effect of scaring her stiff, her small perfect world no longer seeming to offer her the so-much needed immunity to the evil in the world. Greater understanding does not promise you greater security and that's a fact and Vicky starts to see it that way, though at times her journey into understanding is rather annoying, reading the thoughts of a 14, almost 15 year old kid, when you are twice her age, having gone through the roughly the same experiences and uncertainties, but at least I can understand her, so that's okay.
But hey! This is not a book filled with just teen angst - though there is plenty of it - there is also beauty - the natural world certainly never lacked beauty and wonder - , and animals and funny people and seriously hilarious episodes.
There were times however when Zachary's mood was "dragging me into a dark, deep hole", and I was thankful I was surrounded by the sweet sound of an the radio chimming away about goodness, peace and trust, and I was safe, wanting to "be part of light and joy again" as Vicky put it (which episode reminded me so much of a Wrinkle in time and A swiftly tilting planet -› be part of the joy so that the Echtroi have no power, her cry of "Life's worth living for! Just being alive! I love it ! I love every minute of it!" certainly being her own way of whistling in the dark).
And then comes chapter 14 which is so wonderful, so full of truth and beauty, and excellent metaphors, and I love Uncle Douglas and his "heathen" (don't let the word fool you) wisdom as he put it, and I love Madeleine L'Engle for writing it and dispelling any trace of doubt that God is indeed, oh indeed! merciful and He is love, love that has no equal, and His ways majestically wonderful, too wonderful for our pride and limited nature to comprehend. It's weird to say that I really needed this comforting chapter while reading a kid's book after all, maybe young adult, but there is the prevailing dark mood of Zachary that sort of dispels an otherwise a pleasant and comfortable mood.
Zachary, well, let's just say he is so disliked by everyone that no wonder he is so grey, and glum and altogether weird. Kidding. He is just the byproduct of the attrocities of his time, a time of doubt, and war and uncertainties, living with a family who give him no guidance, no warmth, no real sense of the good, wholesome and just in the world, having no uncles Douglas to understand him and tell him that life isn't just what he sees, what he hears, but oh, so much more. I get the hostility towards him, but he's just a kid wandering the world with no sense of real purpose, real and good and strong, no assurance that there is more to our life than death, disease, hatred and war, that our home is not here, on earth, that love transcends and makes well that which was thwarted.
And after chapter 14 comes chapter 18, I think, which turns the whole story upside down but in a good way and it feels good for a change. There is a normal kid who actually enjoys life, whose life philosophy is sound, and who gives Vicky another perspective to life, so much different than the one she began to abhor, that of Zachary. And Zachary changes, which is grand, and all in all, the book ends much better than the way it started, much more hopeful and that growing up is hard and perhaps a never-ending process, but nothing which is worth having comes easy, and a worthwhile life is worth having, even if it starts slow and hard and is apparently senseless and purposeless.
I really am surprised at my liking this book and willingness to finish it. Super!
But hey! This is not a book filled with just teen angst - though there is plenty of it - there is also beauty - the natural world certainly never lacked beauty and wonder - , and animals and funny people and seriously hilarious episodes.
There were times however when Zachary's mood was "dragging me into a dark, deep hole", and I was thankful I was surrounded by the sweet sound of an the radio chimming away about goodness, peace and trust, and I was safe, wanting to "be part of light and joy again" as Vicky put it (which episode reminded me so much of a Wrinkle in time and A swiftly tilting planet -› be part of the joy so that the Echtroi have no power, her cry of "Life's worth living for! Just being alive! I love it ! I love every minute of it!" certainly being her own way of whistling in the dark).
And then comes chapter 14 which is so wonderful, so full of truth and beauty, and excellent metaphors, and I love Uncle Douglas and his "heathen" (don't let the word fool you) wisdom as he put it, and I love Madeleine L'Engle for writing it and dispelling any trace of doubt that God is indeed, oh indeed! merciful and He is love, love that has no equal, and His ways majestically wonderful, too wonderful for our pride and limited nature to comprehend. It's weird to say that I really needed this comforting chapter while reading a kid's book after all, maybe young adult, but there is the prevailing dark mood of Zachary that sort of dispels an otherwise a pleasant and comfortable mood.
Zachary, well, let's just say he is so disliked by everyone that no wonder he is so grey, and glum and altogether weird. Kidding. He is just the byproduct of the attrocities of his time, a time of doubt, and war and uncertainties, living with a family who give him no guidance, no warmth, no real sense of the good, wholesome and just in the world, having no uncles Douglas to understand him and tell him that life isn't just what he sees, what he hears, but oh, so much more. I get the hostility towards him, but he's just a kid wandering the world with no sense of real purpose, real and good and strong, no assurance that there is more to our life than death, disease, hatred and war, that our home is not here, on earth, that love transcends and makes well that which was thwarted.
And after chapter 14 comes chapter 18, I think, which turns the whole story upside down but in a good way and it feels good for a change. There is a normal kid who actually enjoys life, whose life philosophy is sound, and who gives Vicky another perspective to life, so much different than the one she began to abhor, that of Zachary. And Zachary changes, which is grand, and all in all, the book ends much better than the way it started, much more hopeful and that growing up is hard and perhaps a never-ending process, but nothing which is worth having comes easy, and a worthwhile life is worth having, even if it starts slow and hard and is apparently senseless and purposeless.
I really am surprised at my liking this book and willingness to finish it. Super!
January 18, 2015
2015-The narrator drove me mad. She was SO DRAMATIC and her Zachary was just over the top. The rest of my review stands.
2011- Let me say first that it's a wonderful book. The characters are people you care about, and get very involved with. The plot is fun. The writing is excellent.
However, I think it is dated, no matter what Wendy says to the contrary. The attitudes of the menfolk, first of all- Daddy makes all the calls, takes the women and children out of danger, and dictates what his wife may not wear (pants, natch). John, the priggish elder brother, follows Daddy's lead here. The overarching worry about nuclear war with the Soviets dates it. The wondering if humans will ever fly to the moon dates it. The painful slang- including "hoods" and "beatniks". Even the logging trucks with one log per load make it read as dated. And who calls their father 'Daddy' un-ironically when they are 14? Or like John, 17?
Why do I find this particular book dated in a fashion I don't notice with, say, the Betsy-Tacy books? Probably because it feels like L'Engle is attempting to comfort the people who were genuinely Vicky's age when this book came out. There's an undercurrent of very pointed reassurance that seems to be grounded in time, and I think that's what makes parts of this book a little stale. I think that had I been reading this as a young teen in 1963 I would have clung to it like grim death. I read it as a young teen in the mid-70's and thought the slang very silly at the time. But it didn't stop me loving the book.
In addition to the things I'm complaining about, there's a timeless story here too, wherein a young girl tries to make sense out of the senseless, to grasp the meaning, if any, of her life at the same time she's beginning to pull away from her family of origin and find her own path. Here is the place in which L'Engle shines like the sun. Her essential, unshakable conviction that there IS a reason for everything, that there IS a hand at the wheel, and that the driving force of that hand is the power of love, infuses every word. And makes all my bitching about beatniks sound as small as it is.
It's a wonderful book. I love that it's anchored at both ends with Grandfather. I'll always love Grandfather for giving me Henry Vaughan, but as Kipling said, that is another story.
2011- Let me say first that it's a wonderful book. The characters are people you care about, and get very involved with. The plot is fun. The writing is excellent.
However, I think it is dated, no matter what Wendy says to the contrary. The attitudes of the menfolk, first of all- Daddy makes all the calls, takes the women and children out of danger, and dictates what his wife may not wear (pants, natch). John, the priggish elder brother, follows Daddy's lead here. The overarching worry about nuclear war with the Soviets dates it. The wondering if humans will ever fly to the moon dates it. The painful slang- including "hoods" and "beatniks". Even the logging trucks with one log per load make it read as dated. And who calls their father 'Daddy' un-ironically when they are 14? Or like John, 17?
Why do I find this particular book dated in a fashion I don't notice with, say, the Betsy-Tacy books? Probably because it feels like L'Engle is attempting to comfort the people who were genuinely Vicky's age when this book came out. There's an undercurrent of very pointed reassurance that seems to be grounded in time, and I think that's what makes parts of this book a little stale. I think that had I been reading this as a young teen in 1963 I would have clung to it like grim death. I read it as a young teen in the mid-70's and thought the slang very silly at the time. But it didn't stop me loving the book.
In addition to the things I'm complaining about, there's a timeless story here too, wherein a young girl tries to make sense out of the senseless, to grasp the meaning, if any, of her life at the same time she's beginning to pull away from her family of origin and find her own path. Here is the place in which L'Engle shines like the sun. Her essential, unshakable conviction that there IS a reason for everything, that there IS a hand at the wheel, and that the driving force of that hand is the power of love, infuses every word. And makes all my bitching about beatniks sound as small as it is.
It's a wonderful book. I love that it's anchored at both ends with Grandfather. I'll always love Grandfather for giving me Henry Vaughan, but as Kipling said, that is another story.
December 31, 2016
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
The Moon By Night is the second book in Madeleine L’Engle’s Austin series, occurring roughly two years after the events of Meet the Austins. Vicky, who was then twelve, is now fourteen, and experiencing the typical doubts and growing pains associated with adolescence. In addition to her personal changes, she’s also forced to confront some serious family upheaval. Uncle Douglas has, as predicted by the family in Meet the Austins, married Aunt Elena, and Maggy, the orphaned girl who has been staying with the Austins will now move in with Elena and Douglas, who are her legal guardians. The rest of the Austins will move as well, from Thornhill, their childhood home, to New York City, where Mr. Austin has found work as a doctor. Before heading for the city, however, they take a road trip to Laguna Beach, California, where Douglas, Elena, and Maggy will make their new lives. On the way, the Austins visit well-known attractions like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, make the acquaintance of a snide and sickly young man named Zachary Gray who does his best to woo Vicky, and share in surprising adventures involving everything from bears to flash floods. Vicky also makes her own internal, spiritual journey, as she begins to come of age.
Back in the Fall, when I reviewed Back When You Were Easier to Love, I wrote, “The right book is the one that just fits. It clicks with [the] reader in a way that makes her feel as if the book was written specifically for her. “ I haven’t felt that way about a book in a while, but I definitely did have that feeling while reading The Moon By Night. I really identified with Vicky’s journey and felt that many of her internal and emotional experiences mirrored my own. In fact, while the road trip is of course an interesting storytelling vehicle, I think the emotional journey was the more compelling aspect of this book. I like, for example, the way Vicky characterizes her need for time away from her family:
It was about time for me to be alone for a while. On a camping trip you’re falling over each other twenty-four hours a day. Most of the time it’s fine, but every so often you need to get out. You have to go off by yourself or you just stop being you, and after all I was just beginning to be me. Sometimes, like that evening at Palo Duro with the scouts yelling back and forth as if they owned the place and nobody else had a right to be there, I felt that doing nothing but be with the family was making me muffiny, though we’re not a muffiny family. So that’s not really what I mean. I guess what I mean is, I felt they were sort of holding me back, keeping me from growing up and being myself. (p. 70)
The reference to “muffins” comes from the Anti-Muffins chapter in Meet The Austins, but is also briefly explained in this book - probably due to the fact that "The Anti-Muffins" was removed from the original text and replaced later on. I love L’Engle’s understanding that a teenager can love her family and still want to be apart from them, and I loved the philosophical nature of the idea that “you just stop being you” in the presence of others. I can recall having feelings such as these at the age of fourteen, but I never had words for them until now.
I also really like the way the road trip provides opportunities for the Austin family to see how the outside world looks at them, and how they differ from families and groups in the rest of the country, and even outside of their country. Zachary, for whom all the Austins except Vicky feel little affection, is the most threatening example of this, because he embodies a fatalistic outlook that the Austins have never really considered or encountered. Other characters pose similar puzzles, though - especially the “hoods” who harass the Austins at one of their first campsites and some Canadians they meet who have decidedly negative opinions of American tourists.
As with the two L’Engle titles I’ve already reviewed, this one, too, has a spiritual side. The title of the book comes from Psalm 121, in which Vicky finds great comfort:
The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day
Nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil;
He shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in
from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Vicky also has an important conversation with Douglas about her doubts about the existence of God, which touches on the questions all faithful Christians face - mainly, how we are to believe in God when there is no definitive proof of his existence. Speaking to this conundrum, Douglas makes some of the most significant comments of the entire book, at least as far as Vicky’s religious life is concerned. He says that “People should never try to make God in man’s image,” and that “without [God] we’re just a skin disease on the face of the Earth.” He encourages Vicky to believe despite her lack of understanding and ultimately plants the seed that allows Vicky to realize the sentiment expressed in my single favorite line from the book:
The point was that now I knew it didn’t matter whether or not I understood. It didn’t matter because even if I didn’t understand, there was something there to be understood.
There are some things about this book that unquestioningly date it to the 1960s - the concern over impending war, Mr. Austin’s dislike of women wearing pants, the fact that Grace Kelly is still alive - but the themes are as relevant to fourteen-year-olds - and to adults, too - now as they ever were. This review, though already on the lengthy side, really only scratches the surface of what this book has to offer; I have no doubt that future re-readings will shed light on layers and connections that didn’t surface for me in this first reading.
I very highly recommend The Moon By Night, especially to people of religious faith. It’s also a great summer vacation story, and the perfect book for quirky kids who often find themselves on the margins, even of their own families.
The Moon By Night is the second book in Madeleine L’Engle’s Austin series, occurring roughly two years after the events of Meet the Austins. Vicky, who was then twelve, is now fourteen, and experiencing the typical doubts and growing pains associated with adolescence. In addition to her personal changes, she’s also forced to confront some serious family upheaval. Uncle Douglas has, as predicted by the family in Meet the Austins, married Aunt Elena, and Maggy, the orphaned girl who has been staying with the Austins will now move in with Elena and Douglas, who are her legal guardians. The rest of the Austins will move as well, from Thornhill, their childhood home, to New York City, where Mr. Austin has found work as a doctor. Before heading for the city, however, they take a road trip to Laguna Beach, California, where Douglas, Elena, and Maggy will make their new lives. On the way, the Austins visit well-known attractions like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, make the acquaintance of a snide and sickly young man named Zachary Gray who does his best to woo Vicky, and share in surprising adventures involving everything from bears to flash floods. Vicky also makes her own internal, spiritual journey, as she begins to come of age.
Back in the Fall, when I reviewed Back When You Were Easier to Love, I wrote, “The right book is the one that just fits. It clicks with [the] reader in a way that makes her feel as if the book was written specifically for her. “ I haven’t felt that way about a book in a while, but I definitely did have that feeling while reading The Moon By Night. I really identified with Vicky’s journey and felt that many of her internal and emotional experiences mirrored my own. In fact, while the road trip is of course an interesting storytelling vehicle, I think the emotional journey was the more compelling aspect of this book. I like, for example, the way Vicky characterizes her need for time away from her family:
It was about time for me to be alone for a while. On a camping trip you’re falling over each other twenty-four hours a day. Most of the time it’s fine, but every so often you need to get out. You have to go off by yourself or you just stop being you, and after all I was just beginning to be me. Sometimes, like that evening at Palo Duro with the scouts yelling back and forth as if they owned the place and nobody else had a right to be there, I felt that doing nothing but be with the family was making me muffiny, though we’re not a muffiny family. So that’s not really what I mean. I guess what I mean is, I felt they were sort of holding me back, keeping me from growing up and being myself. (p. 70)
The reference to “muffins” comes from the Anti-Muffins chapter in Meet The Austins, but is also briefly explained in this book - probably due to the fact that "The Anti-Muffins" was removed from the original text and replaced later on. I love L’Engle’s understanding that a teenager can love her family and still want to be apart from them, and I loved the philosophical nature of the idea that “you just stop being you” in the presence of others. I can recall having feelings such as these at the age of fourteen, but I never had words for them until now.
I also really like the way the road trip provides opportunities for the Austin family to see how the outside world looks at them, and how they differ from families and groups in the rest of the country, and even outside of their country. Zachary, for whom all the Austins except Vicky feel little affection, is the most threatening example of this, because he embodies a fatalistic outlook that the Austins have never really considered or encountered. Other characters pose similar puzzles, though - especially the “hoods” who harass the Austins at one of their first campsites and some Canadians they meet who have decidedly negative opinions of American tourists.
As with the two L’Engle titles I’ve already reviewed, this one, too, has a spiritual side. The title of the book comes from Psalm 121, in which Vicky finds great comfort:
The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day
Nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil;
He shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in
from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Vicky also has an important conversation with Douglas about her doubts about the existence of God, which touches on the questions all faithful Christians face - mainly, how we are to believe in God when there is no definitive proof of his existence. Speaking to this conundrum, Douglas makes some of the most significant comments of the entire book, at least as far as Vicky’s religious life is concerned. He says that “People should never try to make God in man’s image,” and that “without [God] we’re just a skin disease on the face of the Earth.” He encourages Vicky to believe despite her lack of understanding and ultimately plants the seed that allows Vicky to realize the sentiment expressed in my single favorite line from the book:
The point was that now I knew it didn’t matter whether or not I understood. It didn’t matter because even if I didn’t understand, there was something there to be understood.
There are some things about this book that unquestioningly date it to the 1960s - the concern over impending war, Mr. Austin’s dislike of women wearing pants, the fact that Grace Kelly is still alive - but the themes are as relevant to fourteen-year-olds - and to adults, too - now as they ever were. This review, though already on the lengthy side, really only scratches the surface of what this book has to offer; I have no doubt that future re-readings will shed light on layers and connections that didn’t surface for me in this first reading.
I very highly recommend The Moon By Night, especially to people of religious faith. It’s also a great summer vacation story, and the perfect book for quirky kids who often find themselves on the margins, even of their own families.
October 30, 2024
Twice I have read a series by the late Madeleine L’Engle, loving the debut novel while hating the sequel. But the sophomore slump is over! I really liked the first book in the Austin Family Chronicles, Meet the Austins, but I loved this follow-up, even more!
Like many teenagers, Vicky Austin, now nearly 15, has become moody and confused. Orphan Maggy Hamilton, who has lived with the Austins for two years, will be moving with her new family to California. Maggy is thrilled, but Vicky realizes that, with the loss of Maggy and her older brother John heading off to M.I.T. in the fall, her life would be bound to change; on top of that, the Austins are moving to New York City temporarily while her dad, Dr. Wallace Austin, conducts research there.
The Austins drive out to California to visit with Maggy, Uncle Doug and Aunt Elena, camping all the way there and back. I won’t spoil the novel by telling any more. But Vicky does quite a bit of growing up. I’ve never seen an adult create a more accurate picture of what it’s like to be a teenager betwixt and between her old life and the new. It rekindled by own, long-forgotten memories. Again, thank you, Manybooks. Without your recommendation, I wouldn’t have found this fabulous series!
Like many teenagers, Vicky Austin, now nearly 15, has become moody and confused. Orphan Maggy Hamilton, who has lived with the Austins for two years, will be moving with her new family to California. Maggy is thrilled, but Vicky realizes that, with the loss of Maggy and her older brother John heading off to M.I.T. in the fall, her life would be bound to change; on top of that, the Austins are moving to New York City temporarily while her dad, Dr. Wallace Austin, conducts research there.
The Austins drive out to California to visit with Maggy, Uncle Doug and Aunt Elena, camping all the way there and back. I won’t spoil the novel by telling any more. But Vicky does quite a bit of growing up. I’ve never seen an adult create a more accurate picture of what it’s like to be a teenager betwixt and between her old life and the new. It rekindled by own, long-forgotten memories. Again, thank you, Manybooks. Without your recommendation, I wouldn’t have found this fabulous series!
January 9, 2020
The slang, gender roles, and camping equipment are dated, but Vicky's existential crisis sure feels modern.
Three stars for Madeleine L'Engle's constant quoting of poetry. Two stars deducted for Zachary Gray, because tbh that guy is the worst
Three stars for Madeleine L'Engle's constant quoting of poetry. Two stars deducted for Zachary Gray, because tbh that guy is the worst
March 28, 2021
Again, I went out of order with this series but honestly I'm okay with it.
The Moon by Night is the second installment in the 'Austin Family Chronicles'. It's also the second book that I dove into for this series as well. I think the first one was like book 3 or something. I guess I can continue my weird trend with this and go to book 1 and then book 4 but who knows what I will end up doing.
Now Vicky was okay but I couldn't really connect with her. I was, however, super jealous of the family cross country trip. I seriously want to go on one of those, like stop somewhere in each state but for the ones I've been to before I could go somewhere new.
For example, if I got to Florida.. I shouldn't go to Orlando lol. For New York, anywhere where my family isn't. As for where I live.. hmm I'm sure there are plenty of places (like wineries) that I haven't been to before. So I will volunteer as tribute to do that.
Other than that, I was kind of bored with this one. Mostly because I couldn't really connect to anyone or anything. I did try though and I'm glad that I got through another book in this series but right now - I think I need a break from it.
The Moon by Night is the second installment in the 'Austin Family Chronicles'. It's also the second book that I dove into for this series as well. I think the first one was like book 3 or something. I guess I can continue my weird trend with this and go to book 1 and then book 4 but who knows what I will end up doing.
Now Vicky was okay but I couldn't really connect with her. I was, however, super jealous of the family cross country trip. I seriously want to go on one of those, like stop somewhere in each state but for the ones I've been to before I could go somewhere new.
For example, if I got to Florida.. I shouldn't go to Orlando lol. For New York, anywhere where my family isn't. As for where I live.. hmm I'm sure there are plenty of places (like wineries) that I haven't been to before. So I will volunteer as tribute to do that.
Other than that, I was kind of bored with this one. Mostly because I couldn't really connect to anyone or anything. I did try though and I'm glad that I got through another book in this series but right now - I think I need a break from it.
September 3, 2008
Growing up, L'Engle was one of my favorite authors, and I read pretty much any book I could find by her. Some became all-time favorites. Some I would not recommend or want to read again. This is one of the latter.
Since I have a real soft spot for A Ring of Endless Light (a later book in the same Austin family series) I thought I would revisit this one. I had read it so long ago that I had forgotten much of it, except that it involved a cross-country camping trip and the introduction of Zachary Grey. Promising enough, right?
Why, then, is it so disappointing? Partly because of how ordinary it is. I really missed the fantastical sci-fi elements of other L'Engle books. The book also feels dated with its references to specific 60's happenings. While these are used to illuminate more timeless, universal issues and questions, they are a bit jarring nonetheless.
I also had issues with the characters. I understand that Vicky is younger and trying to find herself still. But I wasn't quite rooting for her here. Zachary, too, was a disappointment. He's a troubled kid, for sure, but in other novels he seems more likable to me despite his flaws. I did like the uncle and Andy (whatever happened to them in later books?)
The message/moralizing here is a bit over the top, too. L'Engle has a definite point of view always, and I don't always have to agree with her conclusions, but I like when they are expressed a bit more subtly.
Bottom line: Skip this one and read A Ring of Endless Light instead.
Since I have a real soft spot for A Ring of Endless Light (a later book in the same Austin family series) I thought I would revisit this one. I had read it so long ago that I had forgotten much of it, except that it involved a cross-country camping trip and the introduction of Zachary Grey. Promising enough, right?
Why, then, is it so disappointing? Partly because of how ordinary it is. I really missed the fantastical sci-fi elements of other L'Engle books. The book also feels dated with its references to specific 60's happenings. While these are used to illuminate more timeless, universal issues and questions, they are a bit jarring nonetheless.
I also had issues with the characters. I understand that Vicky is younger and trying to find herself still. But I wasn't quite rooting for her here. Zachary, too, was a disappointment. He's a troubled kid, for sure, but in other novels he seems more likable to me despite his flaws. I did like the uncle and Andy (whatever happened to them in later books?)
The message/moralizing here is a bit over the top, too. L'Engle has a definite point of view always, and I don't always have to agree with her conclusions, but I like when they are expressed a bit more subtly.
Bottom line: Skip this one and read A Ring of Endless Light instead.
September 2, 2023
So here’s the thing—this was a great and compelling summer read, sitting in a hammock on my back porch in the evenings, for once not distracted by my phone. But I get so irritated by the cheesy teen romance in these books! I really like the first Vicky Austin (Meet the Austins) because she’s too young for boys. But Zachary Grey…blech.
August 8, 2012
The Moon by Night is the second Austin family book. This one, like the first, is told from Vicky's point of view and focuses on her experience of growing up.
In The Moon by Night, Vicky and her family are traveling across the United States on a camping vacation as a sort of last hurrah before they have to spend a year or two in New York for her father's research. A lot is changing in their lives; not only are they leaving New England for that time, they're also giving up their foster sister Maggy to their Uncle Douglas, who is marrying their mother's friend. While Vicky is happy for Douglas, Elena, and Maggy, it's still a change for her, and she's at the age where changes are difficult. She's also beginning to wrestle with her faith and the problem of evil.
And then...*sigh* enter Zachary Gray.
I'm not the only one who TOTALLY HATES Zachary Gray, am I? Vicky keeps telling us there's something special in him, but I don't see it. Not here, sure as hell not in Ring of Endless Light, and not in A House Like a Lotus and not in An Acceptable Time. All I see is a seriously messed-up kid, who certainly has good reason to be messed up but who is still MESSED UP. He keeps promising reform but NEVER DELIVERS. He's an abuser, and he wants Vicky - and later, Poly - to be his enabler.
I wonder who Zachary Gray was to Madeleine L'Engle, and if it hurt her to see readers misunderstand him the way it hurts Vicky to see her family misunderstand him. Not that *I* think I'm misunderstanding Zachary, mind you. I think I understand him just fine, and what I understand is that he is POISON and Vicky needs to steer clear of him and Poly could do SO MUCH BETTER.
So anyway, I would probably give The Moon by Night another star if it weren't for Zachary Gray. I pure hate that guy.
In The Moon by Night, Vicky and her family are traveling across the United States on a camping vacation as a sort of last hurrah before they have to spend a year or two in New York for her father's research. A lot is changing in their lives; not only are they leaving New England for that time, they're also giving up their foster sister Maggy to their Uncle Douglas, who is marrying their mother's friend. While Vicky is happy for Douglas, Elena, and Maggy, it's still a change for her, and she's at the age where changes are difficult. She's also beginning to wrestle with her faith and the problem of evil.
And then...*sigh* enter Zachary Gray.
I'm not the only one who TOTALLY HATES Zachary Gray, am I? Vicky keeps telling us there's something special in him, but I don't see it. Not here, sure as hell not in Ring of Endless Light, and not in A House Like a Lotus and not in An Acceptable Time. All I see is a seriously messed-up kid, who certainly has good reason to be messed up but who is still MESSED UP. He keeps promising reform but NEVER DELIVERS. He's an abuser, and he wants Vicky - and later, Poly - to be his enabler.
I wonder who Zachary Gray was to Madeleine L'Engle, and if it hurt her to see readers misunderstand him the way it hurts Vicky to see her family misunderstand him. Not that *I* think I'm misunderstanding Zachary, mind you. I think I understand him just fine, and what I understand is that he is POISON and Vicky needs to steer clear of him and Poly could do SO MUCH BETTER.
So anyway, I would probably give The Moon by Night another star if it weren't for Zachary Gray. I pure hate that guy.
May 17, 2019
This series hasn’t aged particularly well, unfortunately, but I’m attached to the characters from the other books I’ve read in this series (especially The Ring of Endless Light) and still want to finish the rest of the series. The Moon by Night follows the Austin family as they take a road trip across the US, spending the night in campgrounds and seeing different states and meeting different people. It was fun to see how Vicky first met Zachary and reading it knowing where their relationship goes.
Vicky is a relatable main character and is very focused on finding her place in the world; she feels like everyone around her knows what they’re doing and she feels a bit lost as to what she wants to do, which I think is very typical for being fourteen. Mostly, I enjoyed this book for showing what camping and a family vacation would be like in the 60’s.
This story doesn’t have any fantasy elements like L’Engle’s other works sometimes do, but it was still interesting to read about familiar characters. It’s not a book I would recommend anyone to just read if you aren’t already invested in the Austin family; if you are, then this will most likely be enjoyable if not super thrilling.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
Vicky is a relatable main character and is very focused on finding her place in the world; she feels like everyone around her knows what they’re doing and she feels a bit lost as to what she wants to do, which I think is very typical for being fourteen. Mostly, I enjoyed this book for showing what camping and a family vacation would be like in the 60’s.
This story doesn’t have any fantasy elements like L’Engle’s other works sometimes do, but it was still interesting to read about familiar characters. It’s not a book I would recommend anyone to just read if you aren’t already invested in the Austin family; if you are, then this will most likely be enjoyable if not super thrilling.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
June 3, 2019
WOW, what a difference 25 years makes.
When I was in middle school, I thought this book was OMG sooooo deep & real. Reading it at 38....wow. Wow, wow, wow. I think I started cringing on page three & basically never stopped.
If the story has a theme, it's "Father and Jesus are always right, see, I told you so." The preachy-ness of the whole thing has to be experienced to be believed, and the patriarchy is in fine form. (See also Meet the Austins.)
I have had so many friends (and students) over the years who dated hot, moody, broken assholes which never ends well and eventually I reached the point where I just Could Not have one more conversation about it, so basically every scene with Zachary made me want to vomit. He basically spends the book legit stalking her and using creepy controlling language, which the story romanticizes, and seems to actually go out of his way sometimes to upset her.
"But he's broken and damaged, he's hurting inside, can't you see that's what makes him say these things! She (I) can fix him! All he needs is the Love of a Good Woman! (TM)"
See, that's one of the many things that happen between 13 and 38; you learn that shitty dudes aren't complicated projects for you to fix, after which you are rewarded with their undying love and devotion. Nope; turns out, shitty dudes are just shitty dudes and you deserve better.
Like seriously, Vicky. Your preachy, patriarchal dad is actually right about this one. This dude sucks, peace him out of your life forever.
I was also really bothered by the low-key discrimination that comes up now & then. There's more than a little fat phobia/joking about fat people, and a not-insignificant amount of othering--those kinds of people, which are clearly, CLEARLY not as good as us and our kind of people (people who spend money, people with different parenting style, people who do sad things out of desperation, people who for all you know are going through A THING so maybe don't start judging them when you don't have all the facts). Basically the Austins and their ilk are painted as the ideal American family and if everyone could just get it together and be like them, everything would be fine.
Other minor complaints include the completely ludicrous overuse of italics and the fact that the tale itself lacked any real narrative shape. Other than the Vicky/Zachary storyline, the whole thing seemed like a listing of unrelated events, like someone *literally* went on vacation and notated everything that happened to them, regardless of its connection to anything else that had happened. Which yes, is how real life goes, but it doesn't make for much of a real story.
And the thing is, it could have been good. I could see someone describing the general idea and plot points to me and going, "Yeah, that could totally work as a 14-year-old girl coming-of-age tale. I can totally dig it." (In fact I have a fantasy of some modern feminist filmmaker finding the book & re-working it into a kickass screen plan with less preachiness and a less passive main character.) But the execution just fails utterly in my opinion, and is definitely NOT something I would put voluntarily into the hands of a middle schooler.
I hope some of the others hold up a little better, because YIKES, that was terrible.
When I was in middle school, I thought this book was OMG sooooo deep & real. Reading it at 38....wow. Wow, wow, wow. I think I started cringing on page three & basically never stopped.
If the story has a theme, it's "Father and Jesus are always right, see, I told you so." The preachy-ness of the whole thing has to be experienced to be believed, and the patriarchy is in fine form. (See also Meet the Austins.)
I have had so many friends (and students) over the years who dated hot, moody, broken assholes which never ends well and eventually I reached the point where I just Could Not have one more conversation about it, so basically every scene with Zachary made me want to vomit. He basically spends the book legit stalking her and using creepy controlling language, which the story romanticizes, and seems to actually go out of his way sometimes to upset her.
"But he's broken and damaged, he's hurting inside, can't you see that's what makes him say these things! She (I) can fix him! All he needs is the Love of a Good Woman! (TM)"
See, that's one of the many things that happen between 13 and 38; you learn that shitty dudes aren't complicated projects for you to fix, after which you are rewarded with their undying love and devotion. Nope; turns out, shitty dudes are just shitty dudes and you deserve better.
Like seriously, Vicky. Your preachy, patriarchal dad is actually right about this one. This dude sucks, peace him out of your life forever.
I was also really bothered by the low-key discrimination that comes up now & then. There's more than a little fat phobia/joking about fat people, and a not-insignificant amount of othering--those kinds of people, which are clearly, CLEARLY not as good as us and our kind of people (people who spend money, people with different parenting style, people who do sad things out of desperation, people who for all you know are going through A THING so maybe don't start judging them when you don't have all the facts). Basically the Austins and their ilk are painted as the ideal American family and if everyone could just get it together and be like them, everything would be fine.
Other minor complaints include the completely ludicrous overuse of italics and the fact that the tale itself lacked any real narrative shape. Other than the Vicky/Zachary storyline, the whole thing seemed like a listing of unrelated events, like someone *literally* went on vacation and notated everything that happened to them, regardless of its connection to anything else that had happened. Which yes, is how real life goes, but it doesn't make for much of a real story.
And the thing is, it could have been good. I could see someone describing the general idea and plot points to me and going, "Yeah, that could totally work as a 14-year-old girl coming-of-age tale. I can totally dig it." (In fact I have a fantasy of some modern feminist filmmaker finding the book & re-working it into a kickass screen plan with less preachiness and a less passive main character.) But the execution just fails utterly in my opinion, and is definitely NOT something I would put voluntarily into the hands of a middle schooler.
I hope some of the others hold up a little better, because YIKES, that was terrible.
May 6, 2023
Published in 1963, this is such an interesting read. On the one hand, L'Engle perfectly captures those adolescent feelings - developing independence, while still loving your family; figuring out attraction and relating to people you're attracted to; dealing with the way hormones can blow up your feelings. But you also get references to a father who doesn't like women in slacks, but is totally progressive in every other way, and a mention of how great it would be to achieve a manned moon landing. The Austins are on a cross country camping trip, and other than things like a mention of getting actual camping gear from Abercrombie and Fitch, this didn't really feel almost 60 years old.
I always love L'Engle, and I was impressed here with her ability to do a gently unreliable first person narrator. Zachary, a rich boy a few years older than Vicky that she meets in various campgrounds, is her first real love interest. Even though Vicky is very taken with him, he's such bad news! L'Engle does a wonderful job giving Vicky the depth and dignity of her feelings, while also showing us that Zachary is a spoiled jerk. Yet, we end up empathizing with Vicky, rather than judging her. It's very deftly done.
Anyway, I wish someone had bought my every single book Madeline L'Engle wrote for teens on my twelfth birthday. Failing that, I'm enjoying returning to her work as an adult.
I always love L'Engle, and I was impressed here with her ability to do a gently unreliable first person narrator. Zachary, a rich boy a few years older than Vicky that she meets in various campgrounds, is her first real love interest. Even though Vicky is very taken with him, he's such bad news! L'Engle does a wonderful job giving Vicky the depth and dignity of her feelings, while also showing us that Zachary is a spoiled jerk. Yet, we end up empathizing with Vicky, rather than judging her. It's very deftly done.
Anyway, I wish someone had bought my every single book Madeline L'Engle wrote for teens on my twelfth birthday. Failing that, I'm enjoying returning to her work as an adult.
August 2, 2008
An interesting easy read. While there are elements that are timeless and which remain relevant, this book is now also fascinating as a historical study - a family vacation across the United States at a point when culture was just changing and how a somewhat traditional (although unusual, even then) family reacts to situations. The first-person perspective of the teenager works, even though the author was in her forties. There are plenty of issues that have not been resolved in the subsequent decades and L'Engle's beliefs ought to be considered when addressing these. The book can be simultaneously mundane and deep, at least to a mature reader, but it is never painful.
July 27, 2011
There's really no better way to pass a quiet Sunday afternoon in the hammock (or fireside couch) than with a L'Engle story.
'The moon by night' was charming, delightful, enjoyable but not dull from lack of heart-stopping action. It was even kind of eerie and uncanny to experience Vicky's 14yr old view of the American cross-country vacation.
I regret that I tried so hard to be a muffin at that age--read the book, you'll understand--that I overlooked what was right before my eyes. This is the grace that L'Engle's writing provides: she assumes that her readers are intelligent, caring people of all ages. Her books are living water in a dry and dusty land!
'The moon by night' was charming, delightful, enjoyable but not dull from lack of heart-stopping action. It was even kind of eerie and uncanny to experience Vicky's 14yr old view of the American cross-country vacation.
I regret that I tried so hard to be a muffin at that age--read the book, you'll understand--that I overlooked what was right before my eyes. This is the grace that L'Engle's writing provides: she assumes that her readers are intelligent, caring people of all ages. Her books are living water in a dry and dusty land!
May 25, 2020
I’ll say one thing for Ms. L’Engle — she nails the inner dialogue of a teenage girl! It brings back all those emotions: looking for omens, the feeling that every glance, every word, is so desperately important.
The Austins are moving to New York City for a year so Dr. Austin work on his research. John has been accepted into MIT; Uncle Douglas is marrying Aunt Elena and they are moving to California. But before they settle into NYC, the family is going on a cross-country trip in the family station wagon, camping along the way.
A big part of this book is a running tribute to the many and varied beauties of our vast nation. Along the way they meet a family with a teenage boy who is unlike anyone Vicky has ever met. Naturally she becomes infatuated with Zachary, even though his attitude toward life makes her uncomfortable. A lot of the discomfort is due to Vicky’s own questioning and doubts about God - she learns for the first time about Anne Frank and the Franks experiences under the Nazis, among other things.
The climax occurs when they are camping in the mountains of Montana. During a game of Hide ‘N Seek, Zach disappears. Vicky and the rest go out looking for him and she locates him on the back side of the mountain. He had heard the others calling for him, but stayed quiet, hoping to draw Vicky to him. What a brat, right!? Anyway, there is an earthquake and the top of the mountain falls down, blocking them from getting back to camp, plus Zach is trapped in some rocks. Zach has mocked Vicky’s faith repeatedly, but now urges her to pray, still in a mocking manner. Vicky says the the 121st Psalm, and when she is finished, she thinks to herself:
The Austins are moving to New York City for a year so Dr. Austin work on his research. John has been accepted into MIT; Uncle Douglas is marrying Aunt Elena and they are moving to California. But before they settle into NYC, the family is going on a cross-country trip in the family station wagon, camping along the way.
A big part of this book is a running tribute to the many and varied beauties of our vast nation. Along the way they meet a family with a teenage boy who is unlike anyone Vicky has ever met. Naturally she becomes infatuated with Zachary, even though his attitude toward life makes her uncomfortable. A lot of the discomfort is due to Vicky’s own questioning and doubts about God - she learns for the first time about Anne Frank and the Franks experiences under the Nazis, among other things.
The climax occurs when they are camping in the mountains of Montana. During a game of Hide ‘N Seek, Zach disappears. Vicky and the rest go out looking for him and she locates him on the back side of the mountain. He had heard the others calling for him, but stayed quiet, hoping to draw Vicky to him. What a brat, right!? Anyway, there is an earthquake and the top of the mountain falls down, blocking them from getting back to camp, plus Zach is trapped in some rocks. Zach has mocked Vicky’s faith repeatedly, but now urges her to pray, still in a mocking manner. Vicky says the the 121st Psalm, and when she is finished, she thinks to herself:
I looked up at the sky and at the stars and at the moon, and the moon was no longer smiting me. I didn’t know why. I didn’t know what the difference was. I didn’t understand the psalm any better now, and I still didn’t understand about Anne Frank and the town of Frank, and I’d probably go right on yelling at God to do it my way when I got upset about things.
The point was that now I knew it didn’t matter whether or not I understood. It didn’t matter because even if I didn’t understand, there was something there to be understood.
If you’ve read much of Ms. L’Engle’s work, you know this is a common thread; that it’s okay to admit you just don’t know and that you don’t understand about God, but that there is definitely something out there that people call God. Personally, I agree with her. I think it’s much better to admit you don’t know or have doubts, than to be convinced that God is this or that and that you or your church has all the answers.
This series is quite unlike the Time series, but I’m enjoying it so far.
August 13, 2021
Some spoilers about a character
So I loved this book sooooo much it was so good and I read forever and loving every minute.
And there’s a new guy
Zach
I’m not going to sugarcoat it
He’s a booty
He’s rude and like in no place to be in a relationship with anyone till he gets his poo together
Just no
But I still like him
Though he’s toxic
I loved this book so much
I suggest it
It’s the second one to meet the Austin’s
Love it
So I loved this book sooooo much it was so good and I read forever and loving every minute.
And there’s a new guy
Zach
I’m not going to sugarcoat it
He’s a booty
He’s rude and like in no place to be in a relationship with anyone till he gets his poo together
Just no
But I still like him
Though he’s toxic
I loved this book so much
I suggest it
It’s the second one to meet the Austin’s
Love it
August 19, 2021
Not as good as the first on the series but pretty good. The 3rd book is a Newberry award winner so should be good 👍
May 31, 2020
I enjoyed this story of the Austin family's journey from the east to the west and back again, and their adventures at the various national parks which they visited on the way. Vicky gets her first experiences with dating, and the adult reader (not sure about the teen reader) can see that this guy might be taking some advantage of the naive Vicky (although there is no sex). I especially loved the talk between Vicky and her uncle about why God allows evil in the world. I loved his answer, basically that God does not act as a puppeteer, forcing people to behave this way or that, but allowing individuals to make choices, whether for good or evil. But people need to realize that there are consequences for evil choices. Loved the story and the characters. I also loved that L'Engle did not write Vicky as wiser than her 14 years, and adeptly depicted her naivete.
October 29, 2023
An unequal, preachy sequel.
November 18, 2017
I love Madeleine L'Engle's books. Aside from A Wrinkle In Time, she has written many other novels, some for adults and some for young adults. The Austin Family Chronicles would be shelved as Young Adult I suppose.
I am not generally a reader of what I call "comfort fiction" but there are a handful of authors who write in a way that comforts me and L'Engle is one of them.
The Austin family was first introduced in Meet The Austins. They are portrayed as a variation on the ideal American family who live in a rural Connecticut town. The time is contemporary for the year the book was published (1960) and they are a tight knit bunch with wise and loving parents.
In The Moon By Night, Vicky Austin is again the narrator. She is now 14, the second of four kids in the family. At this time she is going through the pangs of adolescence, those first stirrings of private thoughts and longings, mostly about boys. She tries to guard this closely in her mind and heart while suffering the inability to fully share with her parents and her adored older brother.
Oh, I remember those feelings from when I was 14! Because this volume was published in 1963 when I was 15 going on 16, I felt a special affinity for Vicky. That year was possibly the last year of white middle class American life before the country exploded into a chaos of change.
The Austin family is about to explode into change as well. Dr Austin has accepted a job in New York City so they will move in the fall from their idyllic home to life in the city. Vicky will be forced to leave her friends and the only lifestyle she has ever known and go to a new school, make new friends and experience urban life for the first time.
The parents have decided the whole family will take an extended vacation for the summer, a camping trip across the United States to California and back. The kids are rather appalled at this idea, each for different reasons, but the parents rule. So off they go with their station wagon, tents, and portable stove.
Thus the backdrop for Vicky's first summer as a teen is a road trip and the reader gets to experience National and State Parks with all the various climates, topography, and varieties of people to be found in our vast country. Vicky meets two boys over the course of their travels and must decide on her own, but with intrusive barrages of advice from her parents and siblings, how to understand and love these two very different examples of male creatures who are not family members.
L'Engle manages to sidestep excessive sentimentality, to show examples of good parenting and conjure the feelings of adolescent sexual awakening. Yes, it is rather tame and the escapes from danger a bit unbelievable at times, but I was never bored.
I think the author was creating in this series the traditional family she wished she'd had. Since I had something close to that when I was growing up, as well as road trips every summer, I felt right at home. I shared Vicky's exasperation; that feeling that your parents will never understand who your really are along with the hope that they will.
I am not generally a reader of what I call "comfort fiction" but there are a handful of authors who write in a way that comforts me and L'Engle is one of them.
The Austin family was first introduced in Meet The Austins. They are portrayed as a variation on the ideal American family who live in a rural Connecticut town. The time is contemporary for the year the book was published (1960) and they are a tight knit bunch with wise and loving parents.
In The Moon By Night, Vicky Austin is again the narrator. She is now 14, the second of four kids in the family. At this time she is going through the pangs of adolescence, those first stirrings of private thoughts and longings, mostly about boys. She tries to guard this closely in her mind and heart while suffering the inability to fully share with her parents and her adored older brother.
Oh, I remember those feelings from when I was 14! Because this volume was published in 1963 when I was 15 going on 16, I felt a special affinity for Vicky. That year was possibly the last year of white middle class American life before the country exploded into a chaos of change.
The Austin family is about to explode into change as well. Dr Austin has accepted a job in New York City so they will move in the fall from their idyllic home to life in the city. Vicky will be forced to leave her friends and the only lifestyle she has ever known and go to a new school, make new friends and experience urban life for the first time.
The parents have decided the whole family will take an extended vacation for the summer, a camping trip across the United States to California and back. The kids are rather appalled at this idea, each for different reasons, but the parents rule. So off they go with their station wagon, tents, and portable stove.
Thus the backdrop for Vicky's first summer as a teen is a road trip and the reader gets to experience National and State Parks with all the various climates, topography, and varieties of people to be found in our vast country. Vicky meets two boys over the course of their travels and must decide on her own, but with intrusive barrages of advice from her parents and siblings, how to understand and love these two very different examples of male creatures who are not family members.
L'Engle manages to sidestep excessive sentimentality, to show examples of good parenting and conjure the feelings of adolescent sexual awakening. Yes, it is rather tame and the escapes from danger a bit unbelievable at times, but I was never bored.
I think the author was creating in this series the traditional family she wished she'd had. Since I had something close to that when I was growing up, as well as road trips every summer, I felt right at home. I shared Vicky's exasperation; that feeling that your parents will never understand who your really are along with the hope that they will.
September 23, 2012
The first book about the Austin family was knock-your-socks off adorable, and this one flipped the script a little. They leave their charming country house and little town life and go on a long road trip across the country.
I like this family, and Vicky, so I didn't not like this book, exactly. I was into it at the beginning as the family began their trip but as it went it started a drag. I didn't give two craps about the gross boy Vicky flirts with across country and I was only half interested in reading about the places they visited. It seemed to drag and by the time they hit Canada, I pretty much skimmed the rest.
I like this family, and Vicky, so I didn't not like this book, exactly. I was into it at the beginning as the family began their trip but as it went it started a drag. I didn't give two craps about the gross boy Vicky flirts with across country and I was only half interested in reading about the places they visited. It seemed to drag and by the time they hit Canada, I pretty much skimmed the rest.
October 12, 2019
The book was still cute and had much of the close, tight-knit family feel that I loved from the first book, but Zachary was horrible and manipulative. Andy was a sweet guy and I'm glad it seems like Vicky is going to go for him, after all. The mountain collapsing was also quite unrealistic.
Overall I enjoyed all the parts of the book without Zachary. I'd say it's still worth reading if you liked the first book. 3/5 stars.
Overall I enjoyed all the parts of the book without Zachary. I'd say it's still worth reading if you liked the first book. 3/5 stars.
September 10, 2013
Solid 3.5 stars. Didnt like it as much as the first though them traveling across country was pretty cool and I am growing to really like Vicky. The earthquake part seemed a little too convenient but eh, that's fine. Still plan on continuing with this series though, I need to see if she talks to Zachary or Andy again.
May 20, 2025
A teenager’s theodicy, reached after paralyzing skepticism, the abundant joys and indignities of traveling with one’s family, and an experience of the memento mori of which every Madeline L’Engle text is an account.
“The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in / From this time forth, and even for evermore.”
“The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in / From this time forth, and even for evermore.”
July 5, 2018
SUPER dated. I am not on team Zachary! Interesting descriptions.
February 27, 2025
A thoroughly disturbing and weird read, this book made me glad I didn't grow up in the 1960s. The story itself wasn't bad; it was the characters that were mildly unhinged and made no sense. Why does 10-year-old Suzy sound like a college girl? Why on earth is Vicky going out with every dude she meets on this road trip across America? She's 14. Why is her dad against women wearing pants yet lets his 14-year-old daughter go gallivanting off unsupervised with 17-year-old dudes she met that day, especially when one of said dudes is actually deranged? It made zero sense.
That brings me to the deranged guy, Zachary Grey. I truly despised this kid. Words fail me: he was that horrendous and loathsome. In fact, I'd thoroughly expect to see this slimeball with Miss Minchin (from the Little Princess) and Dracula down in the nether regions of Dante's Inferno. Bro literally met Vicky in Tennessee and proceeds to follow her across the country, all while attacking everything she was taught growing up. He'd say stuff like, "Oh, bad things have happened to me, therefore life is not worth living and God doesn't exist, and you are stupid for believing otherwise, Vicky," and then say, "But I love you, Vicky, save me. Ignore all this nonsense I'm spouting, it just shows I love you. Also ignore the fact that I said I wanna be a lawyer so I can get away with breaking the law and that I clearly only care for myself. It's proof of my affection." Despicable kid. The part that made it even worse was how Vicky was all, "Oh, he's hurting inside, I wanna help him. I know there's good in him somewhere." I know girls in stories often go for the bad guy because they want to reform him, but this was on another level. Vicky's parents were also ridiculous: they obviously didn't like this Grey loser, yet they keep letting her go off with him at different places across the country, because for some reason they didn't slap him with a restraining order after he followed them from Tennesse to CALIFORNIA.
The last thing I really hated was when there was an earthquake in Montana, and Zachery Grey got stuck under a bunch of rocks. Instead of throwing a package of hamburger at him, dousing him in steak sauce, and leaving him to the wolves like he deserved, Vicky was all, "Oh, he hurt his wrist and didn't complain about it. What a MAN." Dude. That's like saying, "Wow, this one stalker cut himself really badly and didn't cry for attention. What a moral, upstanding citizen. Give him the key to the city."
The actual last thing: what is this book cover. It's bizarre and kind of off-putting.
On the other hand, the storyline itself was pretty good, and the descriptions were beautiful as always. Also... begrudgingly, and embarrassingly, I still like Vicky Austin as a character. What can I say. She's interesting, and there aren't many other characters like her. If only she weren't drooling over that stupid kid the whole book.
That brings me to the deranged guy, Zachary Grey. I truly despised this kid. Words fail me: he was that horrendous and loathsome. In fact, I'd thoroughly expect to see this slimeball with Miss Minchin (from the Little Princess) and Dracula down in the nether regions of Dante's Inferno. Bro literally met Vicky in Tennessee and proceeds to follow her across the country, all while attacking everything she was taught growing up. He'd say stuff like, "Oh, bad things have happened to me, therefore life is not worth living and God doesn't exist, and you are stupid for believing otherwise, Vicky," and then say, "But I love you, Vicky, save me. Ignore all this nonsense I'm spouting, it just shows I love you. Also ignore the fact that I said I wanna be a lawyer so I can get away with breaking the law and that I clearly only care for myself. It's proof of my affection." Despicable kid. The part that made it even worse was how Vicky was all, "Oh, he's hurting inside, I wanna help him. I know there's good in him somewhere." I know girls in stories often go for the bad guy because they want to reform him, but this was on another level. Vicky's parents were also ridiculous: they obviously didn't like this Grey loser, yet they keep letting her go off with him at different places across the country, because for some reason they didn't slap him with a restraining order after he followed them from Tennesse to CALIFORNIA.
The last thing I really hated was when there was an earthquake in Montana, and Zachery Grey got stuck under a bunch of rocks. Instead of throwing a package of hamburger at him, dousing him in steak sauce, and leaving him to the wolves like he deserved, Vicky was all, "Oh, he hurt his wrist and didn't complain about it. What a MAN." Dude. That's like saying, "Wow, this one stalker cut himself really badly and didn't cry for attention. What a moral, upstanding citizen. Give him the key to the city."
The actual last thing: what is this book cover. It's bizarre and kind of off-putting.
On the other hand, the storyline itself was pretty good, and the descriptions were beautiful as always. Also... begrudgingly, and embarrassingly, I still like Vicky Austin as a character. What can I say. She's interesting, and there aren't many other characters like her. If only she weren't drooling over that stupid kid the whole book.
May 15, 2019
The Moon by Night is Book 2 in the Austin Family chronicles by Madeleine L’Engle. I’ll be the first to concede that the books are dated. I cringed when Vicki said that her mother dressed in skirts and blouses on their camping trip because her father didn’t like to see women in pants. This book takes place in the late 1950’s and the Austin family are taking off on a camping trip across America. They are traveling from Maine to California stopping to see National Parks along the way. They also visit Las Vegas and travel to Canada. Vicki is 14 years old and has 2 young men – Zachary and Andy – develop an interest in her during their travels. I hated Zachary who came across as one of the most spoiled and unlikeable characters in fiction. Seriously…this guy needed to be on some anti-depressants. Vicki was the only one in her family who was able to tolerate him.
While the books are dated, there is also a timeless quality to them. Vicki is suffering the pangs of growing up and facing changes within her family. And family trips with the kids packed into the car haven’t changed that much in over 50 years. This would be a great audio book for a family to listen to on their own trip across the country.
While the books are dated, there is also a timeless quality to them. Vicki is suffering the pangs of growing up and facing changes within her family. And family trips with the kids packed into the car haven’t changed that much in over 50 years. This would be a great audio book for a family to listen to on their own trip across the country.
July 3, 2018
Not as good as the first one in the series because it is much more about just Vicky and her growing as a teenager and beginning to have romantic relationships. In other words, it's just not as well-rounded of a book with different characters have multiple shades of self and growing as characters. The road trip thing was very fun, especially for me having been to many of those places and it being the summer now. Reading a book written in the early 60s which address the fears of nuclear destruction was also interesting.
L'Engle can just flat out write. You want to keep turning the pages and you want to go inside her books. There aren't really many better ways to praise an author than that, I think.
I will go on to the next one in the series sometime soon--The Young Unicorns. That is actually the only one in this series I read as a kid, and I remember absolutely loving it, but I hardly remember any specifics about it, so I am looking forward to it.
L'Engle can just flat out write. You want to keep turning the pages and you want to go inside her books. There aren't really many better ways to praise an author than that, I think.
I will go on to the next one in the series sometime soon--The Young Unicorns. That is actually the only one in this series I read as a kid, and I remember absolutely loving it, but I hardly remember any specifics about it, so I am looking forward to it.
September 25, 2025
Another book I think I really would have loved if I had read it as a middle schooler. Vicky Austin seems like such a real character, a real teenager who is figuring things out and doesn’t know what she’s feeling or why, and she is so believable and the story she’s telling doesn’t feel plotted or crafted in a specific way. I also loved the travelogue type of story here and how they visited so many places and saw so many things—it made me want to do the same sort of camping trip (although not as the mom, as one of the kids who doesn’t have to make the food over the fire every night). I love the Austin family and I hope our family is a little bit like them.
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