Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton. Written in verse the book tells the story of a half black, half Japanese girl who moved with her family to Vermont to be the new girl halfway through seventh grade. It's 1969 and she dreams of being an astronaut.
I read the first two pages:
I wish we had flown to Vermont
instead of riding
on a bus, train, train, bus
all the way from Berkley.
Ten hours would have soared, compared to six days.
But two plane tickets--
one for me and one for Mama--
would have cost a lot of money,
and Papa already spent so much
when he flew home at Thanksgiving.
Mama is sewing buttons on my new slacks
and helping me fill out the forms
for my new school in Hillsborough, our new town.
This might be a new year
but seventh grade is halfway done,
and I'll be the new girl.
I'm stuck at the ethnicity part.
Check only one, it says.
The choices are:
White
Black
Puerto Rican
Portuguese
Hispanic
Oriental
Other
I am
half Mama,
half Papa,
and all me.
Isn't that all anyone needs to know?
But the form says All items must be completed,
so I ask, "Other?"
Mama pushes her brows together,
making what papa calls her Toshirô-Mifune face.
"Check all that apply," she says.
"But it says just one."
"Do you listen to your mother or a piece of paper?"
I borrowed it.
I do not usually read verse novels. This one captivated me. I raced through it, loving every sentence.
The what was not said was as important as what was said. Highly recommend.
What is one of your favorite mid grade diversity books? I will so a separate post on picture books.
Full Cicada Moon is available in Libraries, Hoopla and at your Indie Bookstore.
https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=+Full+Cicada+Moon
https://www.amazon.com/Full-Cicada-Moon-Marilyn-Hilton/dp/0147516013
- Age Range: 8 - 12 years
- Grade Level: 3 - 7
- Lexile Measure: 790L (What's this?)
- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Puffin Books; Reprint edition (April 4, 2017)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0147516013
- ISBN-13: 978-0147516015
- Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1 x 7.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Customer Reviews: 54 customer ratings
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#30,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #81 in Children's 1900s American Historical Fiction
- #188 in Children's Prejudice & Racism Books
- #250 in Stories in Verse
