Comments on: Beneath a Meth Moon http://blogs.slj.com/heavymedal/2012/12/02/beneath-a-meth-moon/ A Mock Newbery Blog Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:12:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Jonathan Hunt http://blogs.slj.com/heavymedal/2012/12/02/beneath-a-meth-moon/#comment-107624 Jonathan Hunt Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:30:47 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/heavymedal/?p=3009#comment-107624 I finished rereading this one yesterday morning. The subtitle of this book: An Elegy. An elegy a short piece of mournful music or a poem lamenting the dead. Such a perfect description for the mood and function of this piece. Laurel is mourning not only her mother and grandmother, but the life the family might have had together--and, of course, now she is mourning the loss of her innocence to the drugs and addiction. I'll add my voice to Nina's in being very impressed with the discrete settings and how each of them is not only rooted physically to specific places, but emotionally to different states of mind as well. Try as I might, I can't really see a larger role for Moses or Kaylee. Not every YA book has to be 300+ pages. I also like the subtle biblical imagery: floods, plagues, miracles, promised land, deliverance. Nice touches. I finished rereading this one yesterday morning. The subtitle of this book: An Elegy. An elegy a short piece of mournful music or a poem lamenting the dead. Such a perfect description for the mood and function of this piece. Laurel is mourning not only her mother and grandmother, but the life the family might have had together–and, of course, now she is mourning the loss of her innocence to the drugs and addiction.

I’ll add my voice to Nina’s in being very impressed with the discrete settings and how each of them is not only rooted physically to specific places, but emotionally to different states of mind as well. Try as I might, I can’t really see a larger role for Moses or Kaylee. Not every YA book has to be 300+ pages. I also like the subtle biblical imagery: floods, plagues, miracles, promised land, deliverance. Nice touches.

]]> By: Jonathan Hunt http://blogs.slj.com/heavymedal/2012/12/02/beneath-a-meth-moon/#comment-107156 Jonathan Hunt Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:17:36 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/heavymedal/?p=3009#comment-107156 I haven't been able to reread this one yet, but I was very impressed on the first reading. I found it Woodson's best novel to date (at least, of the ones that I have read). It's one of those quiet books, but I remember the melancholy tone and the mesmerizing quality of the prose. I haven’t been able to reread this one yet, but I was very impressed on the first reading. I found it Woodson’s best novel to date (at least, of the ones that I have read). It’s one of those quiet books, but I remember the melancholy tone and the mesmerizing quality of the prose.

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