Book Thoughts: A Place to Hang the Moon (Albus)

• 3 siblings are evacuated from London during WWII soon after their grandmother dies
• amidst difficulties and maltreatment, the children struggle finding a good family to live with but have one refuge–the library
• convo: name calling, bullying, bomb shelters and other war lingo mentioned, deaths mentioned, omitting truth, occasional lies, flirting between children in several scenes, frequent sarcasm, Father Christmas mentioned
• language: blasted, for G*d’s sake, stupid
• happy ending

Type: chapter book
Ages: 8-12
Author: Kate Albus

Many of my friends and acquaintances gushed over this book for long enough that my children and I decided to listen to the audiobook. We needed to discover for ourselves such a literary treasure!

But, to be perfectly honest, it bored us. I’m not sure if the hype caused reality to deflate or what, but my kids never once asked for more of the book while we were in it. Where were all the “just one more chapter?” requests?

I will say that Albus did a very nice job concluding the story. In contrast to the majority of the book, it was sweet and cozy and had all the good things a final chapter should include.

The deception (lying, omitting truth) throughout did eventually wear on me. I don’t expect stories to have perfectly sinless characters everywhere always, but it would have been nice to see some consequences. 😉

Overall, I’m glad we checked it out, but let’s just say I’m also glad I took good notes so that I don’t have to read it again. Heh.

Speaking of notes, just for fun, here are literary references worked into the story:

Little Princess
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Yellow Fairy Book
Agatha Christie
Anne of Green Gables
Five Children and It
Winnie the Pooh
Wind in the Willows
The Story of Ferdinand
Treasury of Greek Mythology
Sherlock Holmes
Anna Karenina
the Brontë sisters
The Hobbit
Tutankhamun
The Velveteen Rabbit

So, absolutely no worries if we differ in our opinions on this one. It certainly isn’t one I strongly recommend against or anything–it just wasn’t for us!