Beneath a Meth Moon

Starred review from January 2, 2012
Fifteen-year-old ex-meth addict Laurel is writing an “elegy to the past” in an attempt to recover her life. After her mother and grandmother die in Hurricane Katrina, Laurel, her father, and her younger brother, Jesse Jr., move from their temporary new home in Jackson, Miss., to Galilee, Iowa, for a fresh start. Laurel makes a new friend, joins the cheerleading squad, and begins dating star athlete T-Boom, but she is still bereft over her lost family. When T-Boom offers her a taste of “the moon” (meth), her sadness evaporates. “Thing about the moon is—it takes you deeper,” Laurel says. “Deeper than you’d go on your own.” She quickly becomes addicted, neglects her friends and family, and winds up begging on the street in pursuit of more. Woodson’s (Peace, Locomotion) dreamlike story is constructed of Laurel’s patchy memories peppered with the voices of expertly sketched characters and rich with writerly observations. While readers know that Laurel survives, Woodson maintains tension throughout, making it abundantly clear how easy it is to succumb to meth and how difficult it is to recover from it. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from January 1, 2012
Fifteen-year-old Laurel attempts to understand and move past a year of her life when addiction to methamphetamine nearly cost her family and her life. Laurel and her family suffered devastating loss when her mother and grandmother were victims of a terrible storm (probably Katrina, from the timeline) in Pass Christian, Miss. Finally, they seem to be settling into a new life, in a new town, with new friends. Laurel joins the cheerleading squad and catches the eye of the school's star athlete. Unfortunately, he is a methamphetamine, or "moon," user. Before long, she joins him and begins a downward spiral that results in painful estrangement from all she loves. Life on the streets brings her into the path of Moses, who has known his own loss and uses his artistic ability to pay tribute to young people who are caught in the drug snare. Margaret A. Edwards Award–winner Woodson crafts a story of powerful emotional intensity through her poignant portrayal of a young woman lost and in pain. The depiction of small-town life, with its Dollar Store, Wal-Mart and limited economic opportunities adds texture and authenticity. This is beautifully written, with clear prose that honors the story it tells: "Hard not to think about not deserving this kind of beauty, this kind of cold. This…this clarity." Most of all, it is populated with fully realized characters who struggle to make sense of tragedy. Laurel's friend Kaylee urges her to "[w]rite an elegy to the past….and move on." A moving, honest and hopeful story. (Fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2012) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from February 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-This powerful, stripped-down novel chronicles a girl's journey from popular cheerleader to homeless meth user to recovering addict. When her mother and grandmother perish in Hurricane Katrina, Laurel's idyllic childhood in Pass Christian, MS, abruptly ends. After living with relatives for two years, she relocates to Iowa with her father and younger brother. There, she falls in love with basketball co-captain T-Boom, who introduces her to meth, or "moon." The novel's real romance is between Laurel and the drug; the euphoria she experiences while high fills a void inside her and helps her forget all she has lost. Her other relationships crumble away as addiction takes over her life. A poignant friendship with a street artist reawakens Laurel's desire for human connections and propels her toward recovery. The narrative, which is full of rich, sensory images, jumps between the present day, Laurel's childhood memories, and scenes from rehab, giving the story a dreamlike quality. Though this is a gentler read, it would be a natural choice for fans of Go Ask Alice (Prentice Hall, 1971) or Ellen Hopkins's Crank (S & S, 2004). An outstanding novel that succeeds on every level.-Amy Pickett, Ridley High School, Folsom, PA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2011
Grades 8-11 Woodson's first YA offering since After Tupac and D Foster (2008) will not disappoint readers. Fifteen-year-old Laurel is living a post-Katrina nightmarehaving lost her mother and grandmother in the stormbut, after moving to Galilee, Mississippi, she's faring better: she has a best friend, a spot on the cheerleading squad, and an athlete boyfriend, T-Bone. Then T-Bone introduces her to meth, or the moon, named for the lightness and nothingness it brings, and her painful past is gone. Woodson deftly cycles back and forth between events surrounding the storm and Laurel's drug-addicted life on the street. In a short preface, Laurel writes that this story is her personal elegy to the past, and narrative techniquessuch as weaving italicized thoughts and conversations seamlessly into the textcreate the intimate sense of reading a journal. A slim but affecting novel, this ends on a hopeful note: perhaps it is possible to write pain into the past and leave some of it there, and reimagine a future. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Woodson returns to her YA roots here. With legions of built-in fans and plans for extensive social-networking/blogger outreach, there's sure to be a lengthy waiting list for this one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2012
Woodson takes us on the dark journey of addiction, mimicking the slow, hazy spell of drug use with the lull of her poetic prose. Laurel's happy childhood on the Gulf shore ends abruptly when Hurricane Katrina destroys her city of Pass Christian, Mississippi, taking her mother, grandmother, and house. After two years of refuge with an aunt, Laurel, her father, and her baby brother move north to the small town of Galilee, Iowa. With new friends, cheerleading, and a basketball star boyfriend, a new life seems possible. T-Boom's affections feel like home to Laurel, and she trusts this good feeling when he offers her first sniff of meth, just to warm her up on a cold night. Laurel loves the way "the moon" fills up her head "with so many different beautiful things" and washes the painful past away. How does a pretty, popular cheerleader become an addict? Just that easy, Woodson shows us. Laurel's descent is brutally honest: wasted and shivering in the cold rain with burnt and bleeding lips, she craves only more meth to soothe the pain. Laurel narrates her own story in a lilting, Southern cadence. Woodson uses biblical references boldly and effectively, as though proclaiming the magnitude of her characters' trials. For instance, the water rises to take Laurel's home and family in Pass Christian, while the sign for their new city reads: "Welcome to Galilee, where life is a walk on water." Laurel's recovery will take no less than such a miracle. Linking the large-scale tragedies of Katrina and meth addiction, the novel tells an intimate and compelling story of survival. lauren adams

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2012
Two years after Hurricane Katrina takes Laurel's mother and grandmother, she, her father, and brother move to Iowa, where she finds new friends and a boyfriend--and meth. Laurel's descent into addiction is brutally honest and narrated in her lilting, Southern cadence. Linking the large-scale tragedies of Katrina and drug addiction, the novel tells an intimate and compelling story of survival.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)