Book details
How High The Moon
Description
To Kill a Mockingbird meets One Crazy Summer in this powerful, bittersweet debut about one girl's journey to reconnect with her mother and learn the truth about her father in the tumultuous times of the Jim Crow South. "Timely, captivating, and lovely. So glad this book is in the world." —Jacqueline Woodson, author of Brown Girl Dreaming In the small town of Alcolu, South Carolina, in 1944, 12-year-old Ella spends her days fishing and running around with her best friend Henry and cousin Myrna. But life is not always so sunny for Ella, who gets bullied for her light skin tone and whose mother is away pursuing a jazz singer dream in Boston.
So Ella is ecstatic when her mother invites her to visit for Christmas. Little does she expect the truths she will discover about her mother, the father she never knew and her family's most unlikely history.
And after a life-changing month, she returns South and is shocked by the news that her schoolmate George has been arrested for the murder of two local white girls.
Bittersweet and eye-opening, How High the Moon is a timeless novel about a girl finding herself in a world all but determined to hold her down.
Age
9-12
Text complexity
intermediate
Length
320 pages
Why to read
- The story is a powerful exploration of family, identity, and belonging
- The author's use of language and imagery is beautiful and evocative
- The book provides a unique perspective on the African American experience
- It's a great choice for readers of all ages, with themes that resonate across generations