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Listen to the MoonMichael Morpurgo
Listen to the Moon
by Michael Morpurgo
A girl is found on an uninhabited Scilly island, unable to speak, and the island decides she must be German.
A story about children and families, moving and thoughtful in tone. We would put it with children of 10–13, and at a reading age of about 11 for reading alone.
Worth knowing before you buy
- Death in wartime
- Wartime separation
- Serious illness
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Our take on this book
In 1915, a fisherman and his son find a half-starved girl alone on an uninhabited island, unable to say who she is or where she came from — and the mystery of Merry, unravelled slowly across the novel, reaches back to a great wartime tragedy at sea. Michael Morpurgo, our great storyteller of children and war, weaves the real sinking of the Lusitania into a tender, patiently told story of kindness, prejudice in a suspicious wartime village, and a family reaching across enemy lines. It is moving and thoughtful, with the losses of war present but handled with Morpurgo's characteristic gentleness. For a confident reader of nine to twelve, it is a beautifully constructed, emotionally rich novel that makes a huge historical event human-sized through one lost child, and a fine choice for a reader ready for a story with real feeling and a mystery that pays off with quiet power.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Private PeacefulMichael Morpurgo
Roll of Thunder, Hear My CryMildred D. Taylor
Number the StarsLois Lowry
The Boy in the Striped PyjamasJohn Boyne
Tuck EverlastingNatalie Babbitt
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.