Moon Over Manifest

A Booktalk Presentation

By Ronetta Brown
LME 527 Summer 2011

Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest is set in Manifest, Kansas, in 1936.
Manifest is a small town of mostly immigrants whose heyday has come and gone. The Santa Fe Railway runs through the town, which was once the home of a busy mining operation. In 1936, the towns greatest excitement is found in the news printed in Hattie Maes News Auxiliary column in the Manifest Herald.

Characters

Abilene Tucker
Abilene is 12 years old. Her mother left her ten years ago, and she has spent the last several years riding trains with her daddy, as he finds work in railroad towns. He has now gone off to work a railroad job in Iowa, and sends Abilene to live with his boyhood friend, Shady Howard, in Manifest, Kansas. Abilene is spunky and inquisitive, quickly setting to work on a local mystery that dates back to the time when her father, Gideon Tucker was a boy in Manifest.

Shady Howard
In 1918, when Kansas was a dry state, Shady was a bootlegger who owned a saloon. In 1936, his saloon doubles as a church and meeting house for the townspeople. He is now known as Pastor Shady Howard, but still has a shady side. Abilenes father sends her to spend the summer with Shady while he works away.

Gideon Tucker
Gideon is Abilenes father. He goes from town to town, via the railway, looking for work. Abilene accompanies him, until the summer of 1936, when he mysteriously sends her to be cared for by Shady Howard, his old friend. Abilene hopes to learn as much as possible about Gideons past during her stay in his childhood town of Manifest, Kansas.

Miss Sadie
Miss Sadie is a Hungarian lady who owns a divining parlor in Manifest, Kansas. Her front gate has a sign, which reads The Road to Perdition. Abilene spends a great deal of time with Miss Sadie in the summer of 1936, unraveling the story of Manifests and possibly Gideons past.

Jinx
Jinx is the main character in Miss Sadies stories. He lived in Manifest circa 1918. He is an orphan and a con artist. He is cared for by Shady Howard, a bootlegger and saloon owner. He is best friends with Ned Gillen, the local high school track star. Jinx seems to have a knack for finding trouble.

Other Characters
Ned Gillen: Best friend of Jinx and a local high school track star in 1918. Hattie Mae Harper: In 1918, Hattie Mae was a budding journalist. She began the Hattie Maes News Auxiliary column in the Manifest Herald, which she continues to write in 1936, when Abilene comes to Manifest. Lettie and Ruthanne: Abilenes first friends in Manifest. Sister Redempta: nun, midwife, and schoolteacher.

Plot
Twelve year old Abilene Tucker struggles to understand why her father, Gideon, has sent her to live with a friend in his boyhood home of Manifest, Kansas. She has traveled with him for many years as he worked railroad jobs, but suddenly, he has decided she cant go with him. While in Manifest, Abilene stumbles upon an intriguing box of keepsakes, which opens the door to Gideons past, and a mystery Abilene is determined to solve. With the help of her new friends Lettie and Ruthanne, Miss Sadie, and Hattie Maes old newspaper articles, Abilene conjures up the ghosts of Manifests past.

Themes
Family Community History Dust Bowl Depression Prohibition Immigration Prejudice Railroad life

Clare Vanderpool lives in Wichita,

Kansas, in a small neighborhood close to where she grew up. Her idea for the fictional town of Manifest, Kansas came from the real town of Frontenac, Kansas. This was the area of Southeast Kansas from which her grandparents came. Frontenac, like Manifest, was a coal mining town in 1918, and its residents were mostly immigrants. The mine company owned the town in 1918, using a system of vouchers, which kept the residents indebted to their employer. Clares story is greatly based in the history of the time, as such things as orphan trains, the Spanish Influenza, and The Bone Dry Bill of 1917 were actually a reality.

In 2011, Moon Over Manifest was selected as the Newberry Award Winner! Winner

Kirkus Starred Review

When 12-year-old Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kan., in 1936 to stay with her father's boyhood friend, little does she know her sojourn will take her back, via mesmerizing tales, newspaper clippings, curious mementos and World War I letters, to Manifest as it was in 1918 and into the life of the mysterious boy nicknamed Jinx. This young con man effected extraordinary change in the lives of the mostly immigrant residents and the fortunes of the mining town in that year. Abilene and readers get so caught up in the past in this richly detailed, splendidly written novel that they easily make the transition between the Depression and WWI eras and long to learn more about the town that once was. Readers will love guessing how Abilene's dad fits into all the stories and townspeople's memories. The absolute necessity of story as a way to redemption and healing past wounds is at the heart of this beautiful debut, and readers will cherish every word up to the heartbreaking yet hopeful and deeply gratifying ending.

Booklist Starred Review

After a life of riding the rails with her father, 12-year-old Abilene can't understand why he has sent her away to stay with Pastor Shady Howard in Manifest, Kansas, a town he left years earlier; but over the summer she pieces together his story. In 1936, Manifest is a town worn down by sadness, drought, and the Depression, but it is more welcoming to newcomers than it was in 1918, when it was a conglomeration of coal-mining immigrants who were kept apart by habit, company practice, and prejudice. Abilene quickly finds friends and uncovers a local mystery. Their summer long "spy hunt" reveals deep-seated secrets and helps restore residents' faith in the bright future once promised on the town's sign. Abilene's first-person narrative is intertwined with newspaper columns from 1917 to 1918 and stories told by a diviner, Miss Sadie, while letters home from a soldier fighting in WWI add yet another narrative layer. Vanderpool weaves humor and sorrow into a complex tale involving murders, orphans, bootlegging, and a mother in hiding. With believable dialogue, vocabulary and imagery appropriate to time and place, and well developed characters, this rich and rewarding first novel is "like sucking on a butterscotch. Smooth and sweet.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Set in 1936, this memorable coming-of-age story follows 12-year-old Abilene Tucker's unusual summer in her father's hometown of Manifest, Kans., while he's away on a railroad job. Having had an itinerant upbringing, Abilene is eager to connect to her father's childhood, a goal that proves difficult. The immigrant town has become rundown, but is populated with well-developed, idiosyncratic characters and has a dynamic past involving the KKK, an influenza scare, and a bootlegging operation. Manifest's history emerges in stories recounted by Miss Sadie (a Hungarian medium) and in news columns written in 1917 by Hattie Mae Harper, "Reporter About Town." With new friends Lettie and Ruthanne, Abilene pieces together the past, coming to understand, as Miss Sadie says, that "maybe what you're looking for is not so much the mark your daddy made on this town, but the mark the town made on your daddy." Witty, bold, and curious, Abilene is as unforgettable as the other residents of Manifest, and the variety of voices allows the town's small mysteries to bloom. Replete with historical details and surprises, Vanderpool's debut delights, while giving insight into family and community.

I chose to order this book and read it as a result of the urging of my Junior Library Guild sales representative. I was not at all disappointed. Kirkus cites the mesmerizing tales and calls this a splendidly written novel. I found myself deeply immersed in Miss Sadies stories, and looked forward to the next one with eager anticipation. As Kirkus suggests, I did find myself guessing how Gideon fit into the history of this town and the adventures of Jinx. I also agree with Booklist, in that Vanderpool made me feel as if I was in the time and place of the story via her choice of dialogue and use of imagery. I love the Booklist quote from the book, that this rich and rewarding first novel is like sucking on a butterscotch. Smooth and sweet. That is exactly how this story made me feel!

 Strengths of this Book

This book does many things for the reader: Gives a historical perspective on the Depression and Dust Bowl Era in the mid-west. Allows the reader to connect with the characters by way of excellent use of detail. Keeps the readers interest throughout with mysterious tales, clues and intrigue. Appeals to both males and females, as Abilene unravels the story of Jinx.

Weaknesses of this Book:

I LOVED this story, so it is difficult for me to expand on any weaknesses. I suppose this story might not appeal to readers of science fiction or fantasy, as it is a very believable story.

This book could appeal to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, ages 9 and up. The main character is 12, but the mystery she unravels and the mature theme of prohibition and incidents of danger and violence will appeal to older readers. Readers will get a better understanding of life in the Dust Bowl, as well as struggles and prejudices faced by immigrants from other countries. Readers can relate to the characters longing to know her father better and desire to understand his choices.

Personally,
One thing about this story that still makes me chuckle, is the way Clare Vanderpool incorporated the story of the couple who started the infamous Wall Drug. Abilene, Lettie and Ruthanne gave Mrs. Dawkins, at the drugstore, the idea of offering free ice-cold water to folks traveling by on the highway. Anyone who has ever traveled west very far is familiar with the free ice-cold water signs advertising Wall Drug. The story kept my attention from beginning to end, but the ending, in particular, is what really grabbed me. I was moved by the discovery of Miss Sadies true identity, and my heart broke for her sadness and separation from her son. I cannot fathom living in the same town with my son and watching others raise him, then sending him off to a war from which he never returns. This was indeed a heavy burden for a mother to bear.

Classroom Connections
Immigration, Prejudice and Poor Working Conditions: This story would be an excellent jumping off point for research projects about society and industry during this part of Americas history. Students could research working conditions of immigrants in the early 20th Century. They could share their findings in a visual presentation or by roleplaying or performing a formal debate, taking sides of proworkers or pro-employers. This was also a time of extreme prejudice toward immigrants. Many were ashamed of their accents and homelands, most were embarrassed to speak in their native tongue in public. The KKK presence in this book is a focal point for prejudice against immigrants. Students could re-enact these scenes from the book, or role-play the true stories of immigrants from their research.

Sources:
Clare Vanderpool, Childrens Author. (n.d.) retrieved May 28, 2011 from http://clarevanderpool.com/home.html. Vanderpool, C. Moon over manifest. ( 2010). New York. Delacorte Press.