Customer Reviews

Good Moon Rising

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having heard so much about Nancy Garden, I ran right to the library and got Annie On My Mind. The book was wonderful and very educational about the emotional aspects of a young lesbian partnership. So naturally, when I heard about Good Moon Rising, I went to the library to get that as well. I finished it in a period of three hours, never putting it down once. This has to be one of the most well-written, true-to-life, amazing books I have ever read. It comes straight from the heart and, at some points, made me cry. As a fifteen-year-old lesbian, I can't even begin to say how much I relate to this story. Many thank-yous to Nancy Garden for her fine writing. I would recommend this book to anyone, gay or straight, to remind them of the powers of homophobia and how it affects the people on the receiving end of it.

I'm not trying to bag on Nancy Garden or anything, because AOMM was one of the best books I've ever read. But Good Moon Rising just wasn't its own story. A light-haired girl falls in love with a sort of mysterious dark-haired girl, they have their little fantasy world, etc. I mean, their love was totally convincing and beautiful in AOMM, but in GMR it was kind of flat, as were most of the other characters, too; certain people were all goodness and kindness, and other people were one-dimensionally evil. Though the parallels with The Crucible were clever, this novel just doesn't cut it on its own.

But a worthwhile read. The harassment the girls experience because of their suspected relationship is realistic and heartbreaking. The bravery required to come out is heartening. This is a fine novel for both gay and straight teens to read to gain better understanding of the difficulties of being gay in America. We need more books like this!

I read this book when I was 18 and it was like reality for me. The love and hardships that Kerry and Jan had shared together is remarkable. It opened my eyes and my heart.

I checked Good Moon Rising out from my library yesterday. It took me less than 3 hours to read, I found it was impossible to put down. Jan and Kerry are believable, well-characterized girls. Some of the best aspects of this book were: the other students' reactions once a relationship between the girls was suspected, Kerry's uncertainty about moving away to make things easier, and the involvement of the Crucible and Mrs. Nicholson providing another part of the plot line. Their romance is true to life, and touching. The situations and harrassment that occurs are also very believable. One thing I think Nancy Garden could have done better would have been to describe their evolving platonic relationship, before the night at the movies. It seemed to be that their love came about abruptly, when a bit of unexplained time has, in fact, elapsed. Good Moon Rising is, nonetheless, an amazing book. I would reccomend this to anyone- straight, lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

I wish that I could give this book more than five stars, because it certainly deserves it. After reading "Annie on My Mind", I was thrilled to see that Nancy Garden had written another book about young lesbians. I hoped that it would be as good as "Annie" and I was not disappointed. In fact, I liked it better. The characters seemed more real, and it was much easier to relate to the situation they ended up in. I read the entire book in one night, and started reading it again the next day. It is beautifully written and very eyeopening. This book isn't just for teenagers that are questioning their sexuality, but for everyone. If you want to know what it is like to be young and gay, this book is probably the most accurate depiction I have ever seen. A must read!

In the invisible market of gay and lesbian teenage fiction, Nancy Garden's 'Annie' has been a staple. Her latest work is wonderful and rings very true. It is a book to be read again and again and shared outside the gay community.

My girlfriend recommended I should read Good Moon Rising, and I was so glad I listened to her. It helped me understand our own relationship a little better, and know that there ARE others out there such as me. Especially what helped was that Jan and Kerry were in high school, learning more about themselves. I am so thankful for authors such as Nancy Garden for writing books like this.

As a long-time "Annie on My Mind", I was thrilled to see this new book by the same author. I expected a good, moving story and I was not disappointed. While "Moon" did not quite achieve the unique beauty and strength of "Annie", it is definitely not a letdown. It explores the harassment and abuse that gay teenagers endure with much more detail than "Annie" did, with a good dose of symbolism (for instance, several parallels are drawn between the Salem witch trials and modern homophobia.) I would recommend it to anyone- especially those who still harbor stereotypes about gay people.

(...) Good Moon Rising really shows this through the author's wonderful development of Kerry and Jan, as well as the characters around them. They show a lesbian relationship as it really is - not really thinking of it as that, but just knowing that they are in love and that that is what matters. Some of the feelings they share are so beautifully described that I cried. I can't really describe the feelings I get from the story, the facts that move you, make you want to embrace Jan and Kerry with all of your love and be best friends forever. The characters seemed alive for me, the story beautiful, so real. Now reading the other reviews, I guess I have to go read Annie on my Mind now!!!