| Title | : | The Next Full Moon |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 193570334X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781935703341 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 |
| Publication | : | First published January 24, 2012 |
The Next Full Moon Reviews
-
Once upon a time, an almost 13 year old girl is on her way to enjoying a day at the lake when she begins to sprout feathers. Is she a freak? Or is there something special about her?
I honestly didn't realize that this was a juvenile/middle reader book until I started reading it (though I had a good idea it was when I bought it, based on the price). I don't typically read a whole lot of books from this age group for whatever reason, so reading something for the tween set was an interesting departure and also a great learning experience.
This is a book that I think tweens (9 - 12 girls, because the main character is a girl and there is a lot of talk about boys and kissing, which I don't think most boys the same age would care about, though I am probably wrong) would probably adore. In fact, I would probably recommend this book to a tween girl who isn't too hot on reading to get her started on the addiction.
The characters felt fairly realistic. I say "fairly" because it has been awhile since I was almost 13 and because a lot of the things Ava and Morgan talk about/do weren't things that I did. For instance, Ava is pretty boy crazy over Jeff Jackson. At some points, it threatens to dominate the story and turn this into a typical contemporary romance. Now, I do think the romance was age appropriate and well-done (not too much dramatics you wouldn't expect in the early teens/late tweens), but I really wanted to focus more on Ava and her feathers (and Ava's mother). Another thing that felt weird to me was how easy it was for Ava to deceive her father about the feathers and how she didn't want to talk to him about them. I know that if I were in Ava's shoes, the first person I would have told would have been my parent, especially my only living parent who has cared for me since I was 3. But I don't want to come down too harshly on Ava; she really is a good girl who tries to do the right thing, even though some of her logic fails (such as not going with just any stranger at night, but then opening the door to said stranger when she is alone at home--I would definitely recommend parents discussing this with any tweens reading this book).
The relationship between Ava and Morgan was also refreshing. I liked how Ava had a real female friend--even if Ava does go on and on at times about how annoying Morgan is (though I tried to imagine it more as a playful banter than Ava being REALLY upset about Morgan). I thought some of the other relationships could have been brought into more focus. Ava and her grandmother were great, but we only get two relatively small scenes. Same with Ava and her dad (which does tread that interesting, challenging "Not a girl, not a woman" stage you would expect in someone about to turn 13). As for the whole "mean girls" thing--saying that Jennifer Halverson is a mean girl and having her say a few things that are slightly mean does not make a very good antagonist.
The story is ostensibly about Ava growing feathers, but there are times when this thread disappears for other side stories--and this book is not even 200 pages long. I would definitely have liked to see about 100 pages more detailing more of Ava coming to grips with her feathers and her newfound history because I definitely enjoyed those parts. The other side stories either got to be too long (Jeff Jackson) or skimmed over (Ava's birthday party). When only a week has passed and we are at the halfway point, I knew that Turgeon would likely have to start skipping time to get to the birthday party (skipping over the all-important exams and how Ava did on them) and that is exactly what happens. Exams happen; Jeff and Ava are an item; and so on and so forth (there was a time that it seemed the plot had disappeared). The actual birthday party that has been building up to be a big thing ends up being glossed over and suddenly, we scream into the ending, breathlessly wondering what has happened.
One of the biggest "problems" I, as an almost 30 year old woman (God, I feel old), had with this book was the lack of a driving force. There is no "bad guy", there is no world that needs saving, no MacGuffin to be found, no evil force to be defied. On one hand, I liked this; sometimes, I get tired of some character having to Save the World from Vaguely Defined EVUL. And I do like character studies, and I think this book is trying to be more of a character study than ACTION ADVENTURE CHASE GO GO GO! But, like I said earlier, there are times when it seems the plot disappears, and I am sitting there, wondering, "Why am I reading this to the end again? What is the big payout I am looking for?"
I really was impressed with Turgeon's writing. Somehow, it balanced between being poetic and pretty and appropriate for the intended age group. As an adult, I didn't feel like I was being talked down to too much, and there were definitely some passages that were breathtaking to read.
Thinking back on this book, I really think your enjoyment of this novel will come down to A) your age and B) your expectations. My review may seem a bit critical, but that is just to an adult's eyes. I think tweens would really love this book; I would almost love to give this to my almost 13 year-old self because I think she would ADORE it. And as long as an adult realizes that this is a juvenile novel with less complicated issues, I think even adults could enjoy this. So when you see that three stars above my review, don't run away immediately from this book. Check it out if you can and see if it suits your fancy. -
Fast read. It can be finished within about an hour & a half with only 185 pages. Maybe less. I finished in one sitting. The story reminded me of the fairy tale of the girl and her swan brothers. I can't recall the name. My memory fails me, but I recall reading it when I was little.
In this modern story, summer is just beginning for Ava, and with it comes the interest of the cute boy at school. Just as everything seems to be falling in place for her, she wakes one morning to a single floating feather. Must've come from her pillow, right? But soon more feathers appear, and with a sickly, prickly feeling...in front of the boyfriend, no less... she discovers she is sprouting feathers. Swan feathers. What's a girl to do when she still has a little bit of school left and a new boyfriend? And why is this happening to HER?
Sweet, short story. Modern fairy tale. This would've been better if it'd been a little longer and better developed. But short and sweet with a tad of teen angst will do. It's also set up for a possible sequel. It will be interesting to find out. Interest group would be middle grades/ages 9 & up. -
The story wasn't bad, but it felt more like an introduction to what could have been an amazing saga. I know this book is intended for much younger readers, but you are really left hanging at the end of the story.
The story follows a young twelve year old girl who's about to turn 13 and notices that she's growing feathers in her body. Of course, she freaks out and as she tries to figure out what's happening to her, she still goes through her normal transition period of having a crush on the popular kid and trying to fit into school. Her mom has passed away when she was younger, so she lives alone with her father, who seem quite interesting and sweet although we don't see as much of him as I would like to.
In any case, the whole interest of reading this story was that I remember being haunted by the Grimms' tale of the Six Swans. It wasn't as close as interesting. -
Awesome! Absolutely loved it! I kinda wish it was not a YA book simply cause then it would be longer! None the less a thoroughly sweet fairy-tale-esque coming-of-age story about a 12 year old girl who starts to grow feathers... to tell any more would give it away. Big smile on my face!
-
Excited because this is one of my favorite authors.
-
Really excited for this book, just waiting for the Nook version to be available, I've already preordered it!
-
so glad I finally finished this. Ugh.
Painful. seriously. review soon. -
Ava is looking forward to the summer break. Her crush, Jeff, is taking an interest in her and she is eagerly anticipating her 13th birthday. She is stunned to wake up one morning to find out that she is growing feathers on her back, shoulders, and arms. Managing to hide her condition with a hooded sweatshirt, she is visited in the evening by a swan maiden who tells her her true heritage and stuns her with details about her mother. Ava will have to choose between her human life and that of swan maidens.
-
I love Carolyn Turgeon and picked up this book not knowing that it was meant for young adults. With that being said, I had to judge it differently. Ultimately, this wasn't my cup of tea, but keeping in mind the intended audience, I thought it was a fun and different book. There was no villian or real excitement to the plot, but it was whimsical and simple, in a good way.
-
I like Carolyn Turgeon's magical spin on fairy tales and fairy tale creatures. I've had this one on my TBR pile for a while and finally picked it up to read. This one was a cute coming of age tale and would be a great read for tween girls figuring out life.
-
I purchased this book by mistake not realizing it was written for a MUCH younger reader. That said it was cute...perfect for that young lady in your life :) It was full of heart and whimsy
-
It was a great read just wish they would have made it a series I just want to read more but loved it
-
Unbearably boring. Nothing happens except Ava being a bitch.
-
I did not realize that this was juvenile fiction until I started reading, but it was still good. Tween love is quite obnoxious, but Carolyn definitely portrayed it accurately, and I'll admit it was kinda cute.
For a middle grader, I think this is a good book. However, I felt very underwhelmed by the ending. There was this buildup about finally meeting her mom and then they mentioned her having to choose between the two worlds. We never really meet her mom and it never comes to the point of choosing one world or the other.
Then there's Jeff. What does he know? Does she ever tell him? How does he respond? Do they stay together?
Too many questions, not enough answers. Maybe a middle grader wouldn't notice or mind, but it definitely bothers me. When I get invested in a book, I need satisfaction and closure. No such luck here. -
if your in to fantasy and miracles read this book its amazing
-
i have mixed feelings about this. i feel like there was a HUGE buildup, i was constantly on the edge of my seat and then
-
THE NEXT FULL MOON is Carolyn Turgeon's first non-adult novel. Last year, I reviewed both
MERMAID and
GODMOTHER for Fairy Tale Fortnight, and Carolyn took the time to participate in a great
interview. I was so excited when she told us that she was about to publish her first middle-grade novel and have been looking forward to it ever since, because I loved her other two novels so much (And I STILL need to find a copy of RAIN VILLAGE, the only book I haven't read by her!).
While THE NEXT FULL MOON isn't a fairy tale retelling, it does follow the life of Ava, a girl whose mother is the swan maiden from the fairy tale you already know and love. Ava doesn't know that her father fell in love with a swan maiden, however, and right before her thirteenth birthday, she starts sprouting wings. At the beach. In front of the boy she has a huuuuge crush on. Talk about embarrassing! She doesn't know what's going on or who to turn to, and stays home sick the next day. Her father forces her back to school, and she wears long sleeves until she discovers that the feathers come off and form a sort of coat that will allow her to change form into a swan. She finds out that there's so much more to herself and her mother than what initially meets the eye.
Turgeon impressively uses fantasy to explore issues that all pre-teens go through as their bodies begin changing. This is such an emotional time in one's life, as everyone worries about worry about how different he/she is from peers and experiences the highs and lows of first crushes. The story parallels this well. Additionally, Turgeon weaves in deeper issues, such as never knowing a parent and the way that may shape someone. She also delivers the message that it's okay to be yourself. Maybe you didn't initially like who you are, but every person is unique, and it's okay to love yourself just the way you are, even if you're different. You're still YOU, and there's nobody else quite like you--and that's okay! -
Carolyn Turgeon is a master of fantasy and fairytales. I absolutely loved her darker adult fairytale retellings--Mermaid, Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story, and Fairest of All. This book is targeted at a way younger audience, so it isn't nearly as powerful or mature, but it's still a fun, quick, one-day read.
There's not all that much of a plot, and it reads more as a beginning than an actual story. I kept expecting a conflict to pop up (when Ava tore her cape, when she lost it in the woods, something bad to happen on her birthday), but finally I had to accept that nothing would. If you go into the book understanding this, it makes it a lot more enjoyable. Carolyn Turgeon's writing remains magical and her storytelling is still entrancing, even when it's slightly toned down. A bit of the tween slang feels unnatural and the melodramatic attitude that Ava adopts gets a little tiresome at times, but it's all pretty forgivable. I particularly liked the way Turgeon wrote the relationships between characters. Ava's relationships with her father and Morgan were incredibly classy and never sank into the clichés you see in most tween books. (Morgan had the potential to be a backstabbing friend who Ava lost by the end of the novel when she underwent her change, but I was so relieved to see a more supportive portrayal of a friendship between tween girls--even though Ava is constantly wanting "different friends".) The Jeff Jackson thing is completely ridiculous and every twelve-year-old's dream, but that's kind of what makes it endearing. This is a fantasy novel in more ways than one--that doesn't mean it's not fun.
I would recommend this to maybe fourth or fifth graders, or even older readers looking for a light read that will take them back to their childhood. The story is so simple and had the potential to be so much more, but it's still entertaining. Carolyn Turgeon knows how to sweep you away into her magical worlds, and that remains the case here. (But for older readers, I definitely recommend her adult fairytale retellings.) 3 stars. -
Ava's a well-written character --- she's a believable 12 year-old, with her emotions sometimes on a bit of a rollercoaster, just over a boy she likes (not to mention the whole feather thing). Lucky for her, she's got a good best friend (even if she's a bit odd at times), and a supportive father. She's annoyingly impulsive at times, but at the same time, pretty thoughtful about what she begins to learn about the Swan Maidens.
I also liked how the author gives us a different twist on the whole growing-older-you-are-changing time of life that we experience at 13 (or around that age). The early teenage years are a period of sometimes turbulent changes (physical, emotional, etc.) -- and here, the twist is that Ava is changing into something completely unique. It's definitely a different way of approaching that period in a girl's life -- and what I really appreciated was that Ava doesn't berate herself for being different. At first, she's not that happy about her looks, especially compared to the popular girls at school, then understandably, begins to panic when the feathers start coming in. However, when she discovers the power that lies in her feathers, and understands what it is to be a swan, she then embraces who she is. Her change is what makes her feel powerful. That's positive -- and that's a powerful message to girls reading this book. Her change also makes her view some of her other classmates differently; if she has this magical secret, maybe someone else does, too. Just the idea is something exciting (and imagine if that kind of thing could explain someone's behavior, for example).
FULL REVIEW on my blog: Fluidityoftime.blogspot.com -
I read this novel in October. It was a rather slow read even though the storyline was decent. It is of the pre-teen audience which made me a little bored at times at the teenage behavior of the main character who is a 12 year old girl. The book managed to leave some questions answered. I liked another one of this author's books so I gave this one a shot. Though it was decent, I wouldn't say I was anywhere near impressed with this one.
This book is about a 12 year old girl named Ava who, as a pre-teen, is going through some normal and abnormal changes. there's also a family secret that was hidden from her by her father. She spends the upcoming summer uncovering the secret on the journey to self-discovery. There's teenage romance and a great deal of fantasy in this book but I'd have to say it's a bit premature for an adult to really take any pleasure in reading.
I wouldn't say it was really the author's fault in this. She wrote to the audience it was ultimately aimed for which was non-adult pre-teens in which she captivate's the troubled circumstances she is going through and made the character completely relatable to a 12-14 year old girl. Reading this I flashed back into a sense of nostalgia about my teenage years and going through puberty and being a bit boy crazy. I had my fair share of problems in my youth along with the trouble of starting to learn about myself and who I might become. -
A special radiance seems to emanate from this novel. The prose swims dreamily from one description of glimmer to another. Light, especially moonlight, plays such an integral part of this book that you almost expect the pages to glow in the dark. It adds just the right touch to this story of swan maidens who seem to have a special link with the lunar orb that shines in the night sky.
Ms. Turgeon manages the tricky feat of capturing the character Ava’s elusive mother, a fey creature who disappeared long ago but whose absence fills the book almost as completely as Ava does. But even more special than the modern-day retelling of “Swan Lake” is the story of Ava Lewis. She’s a 12-year-old-going-on-13 girl and the book jumps with her prepubescent angst. One moment she is caught up in heady, delirious delight over the handsome boy she swoons for; the next, she is plunged into melodramatic despair. The author has convincingly re-captured what it meant to be a teenaged girl, almost wholly absorbed in the daily triumphs and defeats of school, bodily anxiety, popularity and pre-teen romance. Ava Lewis manages to be a delight in spite of her frets and worries. -
I love Carolyn Turgeon's books, so I had to snatch up this book when I had the chance.
Some thoughts:
- Like her other books, I finished reading this and felt at peace. Ava reminded me of the fairy godmother in another one of Carolyn's books.
- It is a book about transitions rather than a solid, action packed plot.
- Believable characters and mindset for a 12 year old!
- casual conversational writing mixed with poetic, descriptive phrases
- beautiful & emotional ending
My only complaint is that the book itself feels like a snapshot of a progressive event. The ending was good, but I felt like the book was a bit of a tease. I want to know what happens next! Perhaps that is my impatience speaking out. :) I think there is a lot of potential for the story to continue, and I would absolutely read a sequel if it were to be written - perhaps a sequel that takes place with Ava as an adult? :) -
The Next Full Moon was the first book that I read freely. By that, I mean it was not a story to be read for school. I am utterly thankful that my sister gave this book to me. Not only did I devour this book, it made me enjoy reading. It destroyed my previous thoughts on books, which were quite negative.
Now, onto the story. I adored the magic in this book. Carolyn Turgeon is an excellent writer and has a talent for creating details as clear as a crystal. I was able to envision the magic impending Ava, along with every other scene and character.
This book will be in my mind forever. -
Ava Lewis is just about to turn 13 and school is almost out for the summer. One trip to the lake with her best friend Morgan and her crush Jeff Jackson changed her whole world. She starts to grow feathers....
This is a beautiful, magical coming of age fairytale. Reading this book was like riding a rainbow made of sunshine and candy! I absolutly loved it. I immediately gave it to my daughter to read, she is 10. I recommend this book for all those who are looking for some magic in their lives. I have made plans to purchase this authors other books. -
This was a nice, easy read; laced with lightheartedness and happy endings to break the monotony of our despairing and desparate world.
I liked the Swan Maiden concept that Carolyn Turgeon brought to life, one which could most certainly evolve into a modern faerie tale.
Obviously, it's clear I enjoyed the book overall, but the story was too juvenile for my taste (then again, I knew it would be). But the writing was decent, the plot and setting were both well-constructed and described. And the last thing I will add is that I did like "Mermaid" better. -
The first book I read by Carolyn Turgeon was Mermaid and it was labeled as just a regular fiction, not teen or anything like that, so I wrongly assumed that all of her books were in that category! This book is for ages 9 and up, but it was still a good book to read! I appreciate the author taking old fairy tales that we all know (this one is based off of swan lake) and revamping them, but not totally changing the story. It was a very good book and a very quick read and I cannot wait to read the rest of her stuff!
-
When Ava, a motherless girl, nears thirteen, she begins to grow feathers. Ashamed at first, she tries to hide them, until she realizes the magical world they open up. Girls will enjoy the way Ava blossoms as the story progresses, her hilarious best friend Morgan, their budding relationships with boys, and the fun they have planning her thirteenth birthday party.
-
This was a very interesting story. I felt the author captured the angst and urgency of being a young girl on the verge of becoming a teenager. The main character was changing ( literally and figurative). It was a quick read and the story flowed quite nicely. I enjoyed it, a very good back to school read for girls getting back to the grind of school.
