Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
Jun. 3rd, 2013 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
What if the football hadnât gone over the wall?
What if Hector had never gone looking for it?
What if he hadnât kept the dark secret to himself?
What if ⦠?
Then I suppose I would be telling myself another story. You see, the what ifs are as boundless as the stars.
Itâs 1956 in the totalitarian Motherland. 15-year-old Standish Treadwell lives with his grandfather in Zone 7, the poorest part of an unnamed city. Itâs a place of fear, where the Mothers for Purity inform on their neighbours for preferential treatment and the Greenflies (police) arrest people on the flimsiest of charges. Standishâs parents have already been taken by the State and his dyslexia makes him a target at school from cruel teachers like Mr Gunnell and headmaster Mr Hellman who likes to beat students with a cane.
When Hector Lush moves next door, Standish makes a friend for the first time. While the Motherland plans the worldâs first moon landing, Standish and Hector dream of Croca-Colas and Cadillac cars and create their own planet to explore, Planet Juniper. But then one day, they kick a football over a wall into some abandoned train tunnels and when Hector goes to get it he makes a discovery that will change both their lives forever ...
Winner of the 2012 Costa Childrenâs Book Award, Sally Gardenerâs YA novel is a gem. Dark, violent, inventive and intelligent, it mixes alternate history with dystopia in a moving story of one boyâs attempt to stand up to an authoritarian regime. What makes the book great is that it shows that dyslexia is not so much a handicap as a different way to look at the world.
A vulnerable dreamer, Standish and his wily grandfather look after each other. I loved his grandfatherâs pragmatism and the small wins that he achieves over the brutal Greenflies through making the most of what heâs got. A revelation in the final quarter was a little sudden but effective in the context of the ending.
At the heart of the book is Standish and Hectorâs friendship, which is emotionally wrenching. Their shared creativity, the way Hector stands up for Standish against the bullying Hans Fielder and their simple desires for fizzy drinks and fast cars really touched me.
Itâs a brutal book with scenes unsuitable for younger readers but thereâs humanity and kindness too. I wonât spoil the ending but itâs not an easy one and I applaud Gardener for it. Mention should also be made of the excellent illustrations by Julian Crouch, which really add to the bookâs dark themes.
I think that this is one of those childrenâs books destined to be read for years to come.
The Verdict:
Winner of the 2012 Costa Childrenâs Book Award, Sally Gardenerâs YA novel is a gem. Dark, violent, inventive and intelligent, it mixes alternate history with dystopia in a moving story of one boyâs attempt to stand up to an authoritarian regime. What makes the book great is that it shows that dyslexia is not so much a handicap as a different way to look at the world.
What if the football hadnât gone over the wall?
What if Hector had never gone looking for it?
What if he hadnât kept the dark secret to himself?
What if ⦠?
Then I suppose I would be telling myself another story. You see, the what ifs are as boundless as the stars.
Itâs 1956 in the totalitarian Motherland. 15-year-old Standish Treadwell lives with his grandfather in Zone 7, the poorest part of an unnamed city. Itâs a place of fear, where the Mothers for Purity inform on their neighbours for preferential treatment and the Greenflies (police) arrest people on the flimsiest of charges. Standishâs parents have already been taken by the State and his dyslexia makes him a target at school from cruel teachers like Mr Gunnell and headmaster Mr Hellman who likes to beat students with a cane.
When Hector Lush moves next door, Standish makes a friend for the first time. While the Motherland plans the worldâs first moon landing, Standish and Hector dream of Croca-Colas and Cadillac cars and create their own planet to explore, Planet Juniper. But then one day, they kick a football over a wall into some abandoned train tunnels and when Hector goes to get it he makes a discovery that will change both their lives forever ...
Winner of the 2012 Costa Childrenâs Book Award, Sally Gardenerâs YA novel is a gem. Dark, violent, inventive and intelligent, it mixes alternate history with dystopia in a moving story of one boyâs attempt to stand up to an authoritarian regime. What makes the book great is that it shows that dyslexia is not so much a handicap as a different way to look at the world.
A vulnerable dreamer, Standish and his wily grandfather look after each other. I loved his grandfatherâs pragmatism and the small wins that he achieves over the brutal Greenflies through making the most of what heâs got. A revelation in the final quarter was a little sudden but effective in the context of the ending.
At the heart of the book is Standish and Hectorâs friendship, which is emotionally wrenching. Their shared creativity, the way Hector stands up for Standish against the bullying Hans Fielder and their simple desires for fizzy drinks and fast cars really touched me.
Itâs a brutal book with scenes unsuitable for younger readers but thereâs humanity and kindness too. I wonât spoil the ending but itâs not an easy one and I applaud Gardener for it. Mention should also be made of the excellent illustrations by Julian Crouch, which really add to the bookâs dark themes.
I think that this is one of those childrenâs books destined to be read for years to come.
The Verdict:
Winner of the 2012 Costa Childrenâs Book Award, Sally Gardenerâs YA novel is a gem. Dark, violent, inventive and intelligent, it mixes alternate history with dystopia in a moving story of one boyâs attempt to stand up to an authoritarian regime. What makes the book great is that it shows that dyslexia is not so much a handicap as a different way to look at the world.
