Moon Over Manifest

I loved this book! Not only did it hold my interest, but it wove two stories into one in such a way that neither could exist without the other. I could hear the sounds and smell the aromas described in the book. The imagery was well done and so was the character development.

The fact that the audio book used multiple readers to tell the story really added to it as well. While it's won awards for juvenile fiction, the story of longing and love is appropriate for any aged reader.

I have read Water for Elephants, The Help, and the Secret Life of Bees and many similarly good books and I enjoyed this book equally as much!

Do yourself a favor---step back in time and enjoy getting to know Abilene, Jinx and Miss Shady. Moon Over Manifest is a fabulous book!

Abilene Tucker is a motherless child (well it is a Newbery winner and I think this is a requirement) her daddy has sent her to Manifest, Kansas where he used to live there she meets some great characters and sets out to find out more about her father as a young man. This book goes back and forth between Abilene’s story during the depression in 1936 and the story of a young man named Jinx and his best friend Ned in 1918.

This was a good coming of age story filled with quirky characters, and a bit of mystery and it gives you a feel of the times both stories are set in. I fell in love with Abilene and Jinx I ended up rooting for them both in their different time lines, the stories melded together very nicely. This was an uplifting story and has a feel good ending. I highly recommend this to the young and old alike it’s highly entertaining historical fiction for all ages.

All the narrators did a great job but with this group of people how could you go wrong!

4 ½ Stars

From the moment I listened to the first free chapter, I knew that I had to read the whole book. The narrators brought the characters to life with all of the different accents. I couldn't wait to sneak in listening time for Moon Over Manifest.

Beside the fact that Jenna Lamia is my very favorite narrator, this was a wonderful listen. The switching back and forth between time periods, took a little getting used to, but it was worth it for the richness of the story.

As an English teacher in High School, I am always looking for books that my students will enjoy. That being the case, I have listened to and read a great deal of Young Adult fiction, and have found that there are a few basic plot lines that most YA fiction novels follow. This book is one of the few that really breaks the mold. It was rich, entertaining, life-affirming, and very well performed. The story follows a young girl who is looking for her own place in the world. Along the way, she discovers the history of the town of Manifest, her father's history, and a rich cast of characters. Although the story follows a teenage girl, it has murder, bootlegging, spies and mystery and my male students liked it just as much as the girls did. I highly recommend this story, either as a novel or as an audio book for teens and adults.

I really enjoyed Moon Over Manifest. Jenna Lamia's narration was exceptional (I loved her in The Help). I especially appreciate how they chose to narrate this book. They used different narrators for the different parts, making the transition from main story to newspaper to letters seamless. When moving from past to present, the book always included the date, making it easy to follow along.

I was swept back to a simpler time where everything costs a dime, but a dime was hard to come by. While I am happy that I wasn't born in the depression, it was great to be able to experience just a taste of it with this book.

This narrator I first encountered in The Help . she is delightful to listen to. I have enjoyed several of her performances. She has an innocent, soothing quality to her voice.

A really nice read. I truly enjoyed the perspective of a young girl as the main character. The author does a wonderful job of reminding us of the wildly unlimited imagination young people have. It was nostalgic to recall a time when we did not have all the distractions of modern social media to distract us and limit the freedoms of our creative, uncluttered imaginations. Don't misunderstand! I love the smart phone (it's how I listen to Audible!)

We listened to this as a family with our 13 year old daughter and 10 year old son and we all loved it. I particularly liked that the book was told as a story being told within the story -- with a person recalling events from fifteen or so years prior.

Newberry winners are always worth the read, even for adults, but this year's pick is especially adult fiction worthy. Clare Vanderpool reminded me of both Fannie Flagg and Billie Letts. Its a captivating story that weaves nostalgia, american history and family values with humor and mystery. It would make a great family vacation car ride listen even if you were alone in the car with Grandpa!

I didn't know what to think about this book but I gave it a try. I am really glad I did. What a wonderful story and the reading is beautiful. Kinda makes you go back in time and think about different things.

Give it a try you will like it. I did.