Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, 288 pagesA 2014 Printz Honor book
Living in the harsh dystopia of the Motherland, the odds are further stacked against Standish Treadwell: with different colored eyes, he's dyslexic, his parents are gone, and his best friend, Hector, is also missing. Compounding all this is the fact that there is a Moon Man living in his basement when he should be on his way to the moon. Standish doesn't really harbor any illusions that his life will get better, but while Hector was around, he began to allow himself to imagine, dreaming of blasting off to the planet Juniper, where everything would be better. But just as things start to look really bad for him and his grandfather, he comes up with a plan to try and expose the Motherland to the rest of world.
Maggot Moon is an intense and compelling story. Sometimes I enjoy stories that drop me into the action, giving me the back story I need as I continue to read, especially when I'm dropped into such an intriguing world. But I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if the story was meant to be some sort of historical fiction, an alternate history, or just using elements of those genres. Trying to figure out where the Motherland was didn't help - Standish's accent and name clearly makes him English, but the names of those who toe the party line were more Germanic; the Motherland salute was also very reminiscent of the Nazis. But those are my issues and not necessarily the story's, and, ultimately, I still found myself wrapped up in Standish's plot to expose the Motherland. Check it out if you're looking for a dystopia that is more in the vein of 1984 or A Brave New World.
(Read as part of YALSA's Hub Challenge)
This is an interesting book, aimed at teenagers but I would advise parents to read it with their children. This is because there are so many historical references that a child would not necessarily pick up on. As an adult it was blindingly obvious what Gardner was referencing. Young people will enjoy this story as it has a compelling narrative and strong 1st person narrator. However to gain the most it does need to have the historical perspective.
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