Listen to the Moon

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The stunning novel set during World War One from Michael Morpurgo, the nation's favourite storyteller and multi-million copy bestseller.

May, 1915.

Alfie and his fisherman father find a girl on an uninhabited island in the Scillies - injured, thirsty, lost... and with absolutely no memory of who she is, or how she came to be there. She can say only one word: Lucy.

Where has she come from? Is she a mermaid, the victim of a German U-boat, or even - as some islanders suggest - a German spy...?

Only one thing is for sure: she loves music and moonlight, and it is when she listens to the gramophone that the glimmers of the girl she once was begin to appear.

WW1 is raging, suspicion and fear are growing, and Alfie and Lucy are ever more under threat. But as we begin to see the story of Merry, a girl boarding a great ship for a perilous journey across the ocean, another melody enters the great symphony - and the music begins to resolve...

A beautiful tour de force of family, love, war and forgiveness, this is a major new novel from the author of PRIVATE PEACEFUL - in which what was once lost may sometimes be found, washed up again on the shore...

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Morpurgo (War Horse) returns to a WWI setting with an emotional tale of wreck and recovery. The year is 1915. The Scilly Isles, north of Cornwall, are somewhat sheltered from the fighting that rages on the continent, but not completely. Alfie Wheatcroft and his father find a girl stranded on the isolated island of St. Helen's-she is unable to speak, on the edge of death, and wrapped in a blanket labeled "Wilhelm." Alfie and his family take her in, hoping to help her regain her speech, mind, and memories. The community, however, worries that she might be a German-possibly a spy, or just an enemy. In fact, "Lucy's" story is longer, stranger, and more traumatic than they could imagine, and she has good reason for her amnesia, elective mutism, and desperate fear of the water. A framing device, built around the research of Lucy's future grandson, allows Morpurgo to shift among multiple narrators as he unspools the mystery of where she came from. Along the way, Morpurgo offers powerful descriptions of shipwreck, mass drowning, and devastation, as well as healing and growth. Ages 10-14. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5 Up-The place: the Scilly Isles, off the coast of Cornwall, England. The time: May 1915, during the bleak early days of World War I when German U-boats patrol the seas and sink British ships. While fishing near a deserted island, Alfie Wheatcroft and his father hear a child crying and discover a sick, traumatized, speechless girl. "Lucy" is all she can say, and "Lucy Lost" is what she is named. Alfie and his parents take her in, and although she slowly recovers her physical health, she remains silent. Brief glimpses of who she might be-her ability to tame the cantankerous workhorse Peg, her skill at drawing, her adoration of music-tantalize the islanders. Early tales that Lucy is part mermaid or ghost, though, soon veer into suspicion that she's actually a German spy, and vicious persecution follows. Since chapters about the Wheatcrofts alternate with the recollections of Canadian American Merry MacIntyre, who is traveling to Liverpool aboard the Lusitania, readers are well aware of Lucy's real identity and root for her recovery all the way. This is a superbly written, gripping novel of friendship, family, healing, and war that is primarily geared toward middle school readers but will appeal to adults as well. By framing Listen to the Moon as a historical study, quoting fictional primary sources, and including helpful background information, Morpurgo may also inspire students to interview relatives and document their own family stories. VERDICT This is one of Morpurgo's best works to date; a first purchase for middle grade and teen collections.-Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Remember the Lusitania! That fateful day in May 1915 certainly won't be forgotten by 12-year-old American castaway Merry, who is saved on the Scilly Isles off the coast of Cornwall, England, by fisherman Jim Wheatcroft and his son Alfie, who heard a humanlike noise coming from the uninhabited St. Helen's Island. They bring the girl, her teddy bear, and her blanket home, where the family patiently nurses the girl back to health, though her lost speech is the most difficult affliction to remedy. Merry, known only as Lucy Lost, becomes a curiosity to the townsfolk, who begin to wonder if her mysterious origins mean that she is German. Soon they start to believe that retribution against the Wheatcrofts will show they mean business about harboring enemies. Morpurgo traces Merry's tale from New York and her trip to see her father recovering from war injuries in England to the sinking and her rescue, and always with a deliberate pace. Chapters intertwined with the narrative describing Merry's interests in music, drawing, horses, and the moon help readers understand the girl. While back matter duly describes the tale's historic and geographic significance, it is Morpurgo's finely woven tapestry of community, trust, endurance, and unconditional family love that keep the Lusitania best remembered.--Bush, Gail Copyright 2015 Booklist

Horn Book Review

During WWI in a small fishing village off the coast of England, a boy and his father discover a young girl, injured and mute. As the family nurses her back to health, townspeople grow suspicious that she's German; in reality, she's a survivor of the sunken Lusitania. Morpurgo incorporates the profound effects of war on ordinary people in an emotionally charged historical drama. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

War invades a peaceful English fishing community. In May 1915 a fisherman and his son, Alfie, from the Scilly Isles west of Great Britain, find a little girl near death on a deserted island, take her home, and care for her. She does not speak but clings to a teddy bear and a blanket with a German name sewn on it. Naming her Lucy Lost, Alfie and his parents and a kindly and wise doctor nurture her with love, music from a gramophone, and drawing material. Months go by, and still no one can uncover any details about her life. But World War I is raging, the British harbor fierce anti-German sentiments, and when news of the name on her blanket spreads, the family is shunned. Morpurgo returns to the World War I of his much-lauded War Horse in a beautifully crafted, multivoiced novel about the sinking of the Lusitania, the strength of family bonds, the vicissitudes of memory, and the fear and bigotry of neighbors. Alfie's third-person tale provides the main storyline, supported by other voices, including excerpts from the doctor's journal and the narrow-minded school principal's records of his horrible teaching theories. It is through Lucy's voice that all the elements of the tale weave together both beautifully and dramatically. A poignant and life-affirming story from a master. (author's notes) (Historical fiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.