Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

Copyright: 1999
Publisher: Speak (division of Penguin)
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 228
Challenges: New Author, Young Adult
New-to-me Author: yes
Author's Website

Simple Description: 
Colie and her Mom used to each be over-weight.   Then her Mom found her calling..in fitness of all things.  Now they are both skinny, athletic, eat right, and her Mom makes enough money for them to be very comfortable.  This doesn't mean that the fat years (as they call them) don't effect Colie's life now.  

They do live in the same town they have since her Mom found fitness.  This is the longest they have been in one place but it doesn't matter, nobody likes Colie.  The really  mean girl at school calls her a slut and tells everyone how easy she is.    Colie has no friends yet that doesn't mean she's excited to be sent to live with her Aunt Mira in the small town of Colby, North Carolina for the summer.

The first day there Colie realizes that Mira is the eccentric in the small town.  She is overweight, she wears loud clothes, and rides a beat up bicycle everywhere.  She also tends to buy objects for the house that don't work 100%.

Colie gets a job waitressing at a local Bar and Grill and there she becomes friends with Morgan.  The other waitress, Morgan's best friend, Isabel, doesn't like Colie and doesn't hide it.  That's ok though, Colie is used to that.  Then one day the evil girl from school shows up and Isabel see's how Colie is treated and her opinion of Colie changes.  She ends up giving Colie a make-over and starts trying to convince Colie that she is special and she is pretty and she is deserving.

Here's a quote from the book (pg 171) that I just adore.  It's Mira's response to Colie when Colie confronts her about how the towns folk talk about her and treat her (Mira) poorly.

"I've always known who I am.  I might not work perfectly, or be like them, but that's okay.  I know I work in my own way."

Here's another quote from earlier in the book that I also liked, although not as much as the one above (this one from page 119).

"For Mira, there were no lost causes.  Everything, and everyone, had its purpose.  The rest of the world, too often, might have missed that.



Now what you really want to know....my thoughts: 
Loved this book. I thought it was great, not just for a 30 something enjoying a YA book but for teenage girls (and boys).   We all know that teenagers (especially girls!) can be very mean.  There are always the mean and popular kids and then there are the outsiders.  This book deals with that issue.  This book is about Colie finding herself and realizing that she is special and she doesn't deserve to be treated as poorly as she is.  I just love books like that, don't you?   Of course, with a wacky Aunt Mira thrown in, how could you not like this one?  I think Mira was a great character.  The book didn't focus on her, but it showed a grown woman who was very different and ok with that.

This is definitely a book that I recommend to others and I think it would be great for teenagers.

Since I'm planning to go to a star (of sorts) rating (still being lazy about finding the pictures I want to use), I would rate this one 4/5.



This book is part of my collection and was either bought or given to me.