The late Agnes Nieuwenhuizen says in the introduction to her guide Good Books for Teenagers published in 1992 :
"I was especially keen to find fiction that takes risks and that challenges; that raises questions without necessarily answering them. I wanted books that entertained but also illuminated, pushed boundaries and encouraged young people to enter, through their imaginations, other times, worlds, spaces and lives."
How high the Moon is a book that fulfills these ideas/ideals.
The year is 1944. Ella is living in a small town in South Carolina. Her mother is living in Boston and rarely visits. Her father is gone and Ella is desperate to know who he is. Ella is different. Her skin is not quite so brown and her hair has softer curls. Perhaps her daddy was a white man? There is a tension in Clarendon County. Early on in this story we hear how a two young friends stumbled across a lynching.
"A tiny stockinged foot dangled directly over me.
Motionless bodies like Christmas tree ornaments, but without any sparkle or cheer. They were close to each other but not touching. ... They were all dressed like they'd just left the house to go to the store together."
"I always knew that bad things happened in the world. Even though they never touched me. But knowing it in your head is one thing. Seeing the horror of it right in front of you makes you believe in monsters."
Karyn Parsons gives her reader tiny fragments of information that reveal the tensions of discrimination. Ella and her cousin meet an older white boy on their way home from the river. They immediately lower their eyes and answer questions with the courteous 'Sir". When Ella aged 11, her cousin Henry aged 12 and Myrna aged 14 visit the general store in the town it is another scene where you can feel the tension. Even though the store owners - the Parkers "was white, they always treated us real kindly." The same cannot be said for a white woman who enters the store with the children.
When Ella is asked to join her Mama in Boston she is overjoyed but life there is way beyond her imagining. Mama has aspirations to be a jazz singer. She works all day in a factory and late at night sings in city jazz clubs. This means she has no time for Ella. It is a mystery really why Mama wanted Ella to come to Boston. Ella has to spend her days inside their tiny apartment. Her mother never organises to enroll her in school and the secrecy around her father's identity grows deeper especially when Ella finds some hidden letters and a message on an album cover which features her mother.
While Ella is in Boston two little white girls go missing and after a long search they are found dead. Vigilantes take the law into their own hands and accuse George Stinney - a boy from the town. Myrna has been falling in love with George. Everyone knows he is innocent but the police beat a 'confession' out of him and he is destined to be hung.
"The whole town was tense. If ever I did pass a white person, I kept my head bent and walked on. You could feel the anger bubbling in the air. As far as they were concerned, a colored boy had gone and murdered those two little white girls."
Ella, Henry and Myrna share roles as narrators. I adore books like this which use different voices to tell the story.
The publisher says this book is for readers aged 9+ and Kirkus say 8+ but I have to strongly disagree. They also liken the story to Wolf Hollow, One Crazy Summer and To Kill a Mockingbird. I agree with this but these titles, along with the underlying tension and fear of reprisal against African American citizens, especially the youth, show me this a book for an older audience. How High the Moon is due for publication early in March, 2019. For me it is a ten out of ten book!
Ella’s realistic voice and passionate responses to injustices make her a credible, flawed, and likable character who sees the truth in front of her but often doesn’t recognize it. Kirkus Star review
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