Genre: Young adult fiction
Key Stage: Year 9+ (a thought-provoking book about poverty, and injustice)
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Moonrise by Sarah Crossan (2017)
Plot: This book follows a teenager called Joe who hasn’t seen his brother, Ed, since he was put on death row. The date of his execution is set, and Joe must figure out how to deal with the news and how to make his last few moments with Ed worth it. Moonrise focuses on one family but contains so much grief, love, anger, forgiveness, and pain.
Positives: Sarah Crossan’s novel makes you think of the justice system and “just” it actually is. She also writes in a prose that is similar to poetry and even with the short simple lines, it still evokes a lot of emotion. This novel captures the complex concept of family and people’s feelings perfectly since life is never simple, neither is this book. It was a fairly quick read because of her writing style, yet it was definitely thought-provoking and powerful. The raw emotion and that ending will never leave me.
Negatives: I didn’t dislike anything about the book, it was just really emotional so be prepared.
Reviewer: Rose, Year 9