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Halo Moon
Bravery, friendship and the magic of an unknowable universe combine in this extraordinary adventure from the heart. Great for fans of Frank Cottrell Boyce and David Almond.
In Ethiopia, Ageze has unearthed an ancient device that can make predictions. It tells him: there is a date, there is a place, there is a moment when it will happen. A disaster that will change everything.
Halo Moon loves stars, and the night sky is full of them in her remote Yorkshire village. It's a place where nothing interesting ever happens, let alone a catastrophe.
So when a stranger appears at the end of a near-impossible journey and tells her lives are at risk, she can barely believe it. But if she doesn't help Ageze, everything and everyone she knows might disappear for ever ...
As Halo says: there's a hundred ways to start this story, a hundred ways to tell it. Each one is impossible. Each one, unbelievable. But it did all happen and I promise it's all true.
In Ethiopia, Ageze has unearthed an ancient device that can make predictions. It tells him: there is a date, there is a place, there is a moment when it will happen. A disaster that will change everything.
Halo Moon loves stars, and the night sky is full of them in her remote Yorkshire village. It's a place where nothing interesting ever happens, let alone a catastrophe.
So when a stranger appears at the end of a near-impossible journey and tells her lives are at risk, she can barely believe it. But if she doesn't help Ageze, everything and everyone she knows might disappear for ever ...
As Halo says: there's a hundred ways to start this story, a hundred ways to tell it. Each one is impossible. Each one, unbelievable. But it did all happen and I promise it's all true.
336 pages, Paperback
Published February 7, 2019
3 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Cohen
23 books3 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 22, 2019
Read for readers cup. Loved it a lot.
March 9, 2019
In the past I’ve not particularly been a sci-fi reader but the premise of Sharon Cohen’s Halo Moon was too good to miss. The novel makes it clear this novel is that particular brand of sci-fi that is firmly embedded in the current, that it is as much a work of social commentary as much as sci-fi.
I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure with its mysterious devices and against the odds journey, and it has much to recommend itself.
It’s great to see the inclusivity in this novel with both BAME and disabilities included with a young African protagonist, Halo’s new friend Pablo having a mixed Spanish/Latinx heritage and Norman who is a young adult with Acquired Brain Injury and sympathetically portrayed. As someone with an autistic brother it was touching to see how kind and nurturing Halo was towards Norman and beautiful how Cohen teases out Norman’s strengths and value instead of making him a simple character of pity.
The dual narrative is a particularly strong point throughout the novel. Cohen’s characters are clearly defined with their own narrative style and distinct voice, vocabulary and syntax with the thoughtful maturity of Ageze stark against the fledgling fragility of Halo clearly separate and easily distinguishable even without the different typefaces used throughout.
Halo’s Story is concerned with a personal journey of making choices of who she wants to be rather than what has always been and with this is growing pains and confusion including the pain of outgrowing our situation or friends, or indeed being simultaneously outgrown.
Halo is both frustrated by her childhood friend Jade’s more mature pursuits and mourns the old fun they had together that she herself would still enjoy yet is equally territorial of her new neighbour Pedro when Jade is around lest she spoil the kindling friendship based on shared interests.
Ageze’s Story is concerned with the courage to act and strength to endure a pilgrimage to Yorkshire and the guilt he feels for misleading family to get there.
Ageze’s journey against the odds to rural Yorkshire is both awesome and humbling. A 12 year old boy making this journey alone, his money disappeared, depending on the kindness of strangers is heartbreaking and heart rending and the fact that despite the odds and the media, the good that shone through is a little piece of #Hope in these current politics of stupidity and prejudice against ‘others’.
Overall this is a beautiful story of hope, humility and strength that adults can often overlook or underestimate in children and young people especially those who may appear different in one way or another.
I would wholly recommend this to lovers of MG fiction and children from roughly 8 and up, the narrative style makes this a comfortable easy read and the reader invested quickly in the success of the protagonists.
I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure with its mysterious devices and against the odds journey, and it has much to recommend itself.
It’s great to see the inclusivity in this novel with both BAME and disabilities included with a young African protagonist, Halo’s new friend Pablo having a mixed Spanish/Latinx heritage and Norman who is a young adult with Acquired Brain Injury and sympathetically portrayed. As someone with an autistic brother it was touching to see how kind and nurturing Halo was towards Norman and beautiful how Cohen teases out Norman’s strengths and value instead of making him a simple character of pity.
The dual narrative is a particularly strong point throughout the novel. Cohen’s characters are clearly defined with their own narrative style and distinct voice, vocabulary and syntax with the thoughtful maturity of Ageze stark against the fledgling fragility of Halo clearly separate and easily distinguishable even without the different typefaces used throughout.
Halo’s Story is concerned with a personal journey of making choices of who she wants to be rather than what has always been and with this is growing pains and confusion including the pain of outgrowing our situation or friends, or indeed being simultaneously outgrown.
Halo is both frustrated by her childhood friend Jade’s more mature pursuits and mourns the old fun they had together that she herself would still enjoy yet is equally territorial of her new neighbour Pedro when Jade is around lest she spoil the kindling friendship based on shared interests.
Ageze’s Story is concerned with the courage to act and strength to endure a pilgrimage to Yorkshire and the guilt he feels for misleading family to get there.
Ageze’s journey against the odds to rural Yorkshire is both awesome and humbling. A 12 year old boy making this journey alone, his money disappeared, depending on the kindness of strangers is heartbreaking and heart rending and the fact that despite the odds and the media, the good that shone through is a little piece of #Hope in these current politics of stupidity and prejudice against ‘others’.
Overall this is a beautiful story of hope, humility and strength that adults can often overlook or underestimate in children and young people especially those who may appear different in one way or another.
I would wholly recommend this to lovers of MG fiction and children from roughly 8 and up, the narrative style makes this a comfortable easy read and the reader invested quickly in the success of the protagonists.
February 9, 2019
Halo lives in rural England and loves gazing at the stars, when she meets new neighbour Pedro they become instant friends. With Pedro, Halo shares her love for astronomy and showing him around the area.
Ageze lives in Ethiopia and after a storm he finds a mystical device buried in the ground. After cleaning it, and with some help he finds out it is a device that predicts the future. One prediction takes Ageze on a brave quest to England to save the Halo's town...
I LOVED this book! I loved how the chapters alternate between Halo and Ageze, how we learn about their separate lives, which Sharon Cohen wonderfully describes, and how their destiny brings these heroes together in order to save the town from disaster.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC in return for an honest review.
Ageze lives in Ethiopia and after a storm he finds a mystical device buried in the ground. After cleaning it, and with some help he finds out it is a device that predicts the future. One prediction takes Ageze on a brave quest to England to save the Halo's town...
I LOVED this book! I loved how the chapters alternate between Halo and Ageze, how we learn about their separate lives, which Sharon Cohen wonderfully describes, and how their destiny brings these heroes together in order to save the town from disaster.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC in return for an honest review.
June 17, 2022
3.5 stars. A mysterious centuries-old device brings together a compassionate, astronomy loving girl in Yorkshire and a brav Ethiopian boy intent on saving people he knows are in grave danger. We meet a cast of very endearing young people encountering not only everyday struggles (changing friendships as they grow up, sick family members, shifting family structures) but are suddenly facing the possibility of a massive disaster. The characters are all very likeable, and while simple, given this is a childrens book, are not two dimensional stereotypes i.e. we avoid the idea of 'the mean girl' and instead see the complexity behind people's attitudes. There was quite a bit of ... flawed logical? Just some inconsistensies that if I wanted to pick them apart I could have, but why do that when you have an endearing cast and engaging plot anyways!
November 13, 2019
Sharon Cohen’s standalone fantasy novel for children aged 9+ does well at showing the tensions in young friendship through the jealousy Jade has for Halo due to her friendship with Pedro and features a largely positive depiction of a modern Ethiopian child (albeit at times it strays towards the “Magical Negro” trope) and I liked Halo’s interest in astronomy but the story itself is quite pedestrian and never caught fire for me.
July 19, 2019
I enjoyed this book with the characters and the plot but I think at the beginning of the book, explaining the specific details of the characters surroundings/location could have completely put me off from reading this. It was a slow start but other than that, it was a good and engaging read.
September 28, 2019
The premise of this book was interesting and I enjoyed the story a lot.
June 6, 2023
i buyed this book in a book festival near me, and i didn't regret buying this book.
And i literally thought the character Halo Moon was a female :((. the book itself is very fun to read. You know what my opinion is full of spoilers. anyways it's a good book and i would recommend, especially towards to younger readers.
And i literally thought the character Halo Moon was a female :((. the book itself is very fun to read. You know what my opinion is full of spoilers. anyways it's a good book and i would recommend, especially towards to younger readers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews