Magpie Gabbard and the Quest for the Buried Moon [Hardcover]

Sally M. Keehn (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

There are just things a girl turning thirteen has to do if she lives on Gabbard Mountain. Like track down her brother Milo, who went away to High Jerusalem and left his danged foot behind! And why not ride Sir William, the amazing hog, who is faster than a white tornado? Before this girl’s done, she faces the Floating Head, outruns Goblins, retrieves miracle water from Green Pond, gives her brother Randall back his grit, and gets those squabbling Sizemores and Gabbards together again. Oh, yes, and along the way Magpie saves the moon . . . and gets herself a beautiful beau! Now this is an original story!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—On the day she was born, Margaret Magpie Gabbard was given a legacy from her grandpa-a cussedness to carry on the fight against the no-good Sizemore clan forever-and a prophecy, by the Moon herself, to rise above the fighting, put her cussedness to good use, and "save us all." Thirteen years later, on October 2, 1872, Magpie calls upon her "magical birthday sparkles" to aid her travels "down-mountain," from eastern Kentucky into Tennessee to return her brother's foot. This puts the prophecy into outrageous motion. Big Mama had chained Milo's ankle to keep him from leaving, so he chopped off his foot when God came to get him. Now Maggie must return the foot so he can get out of Purgatory and be on his way to High Jerusalem (heaven). Each rollicking adventure gets more preposterous than the last as Magpie encounters the Cob Hollow Goblins who buried the Moon, a floating Head who holds a special key in his mouth, and a magical boar that can travel through time. Keehn captures Appalachian colloquialisms and language to perfection while maintaining an action-packed, rip-snorting, hilarious pace that never lets readers go. The feisty heroine brings together the two rival clans and saves the Moon, and brother Milo gets to "walk through the pearly gates" on two feet in this well-connected rambunctious celebration of the tall tale. An original that just might be even more entertaining when read aloud.—D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Keehn, who wrote Gnat Stokes and the Foggy Bottom Swamp Queen (2005), offers an original tale featuring Magpie Gabbard, a Kentucky mountain lass who is called upon to save the world shortly after her thirteenth birthday. At the story's beginning, Magpie tells readers that she hopes to find her brother and return his chopped-off foot. But soon Magpie learns that she must free the buried moon, which has been captured by Goblins and trapped on earth. From Granny's prophesying kettle to a severed (but still conversing) head trapped in a well, the story is full of magical elements. Readers may grow impatient with the many early references to the brother's foot, which goes unexplained too long. Those who persevere, however, will find themselves charmed by the novel's tall-tale tone and rooting for Magpie in her ultimate quest. Drawing on elements of British folklore consistent with Appalachian heritage, Keehn writes an original, down-home American fantasy about a girl with the gumption to fulfill a prophecy. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Philomel (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399243402
• ISBN-13: 978-0399243400
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,612,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh as a Kentucky Mountain Wind, May 20, 2007

By 

K. Coombs (Utah, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Magpie Gabbard and the Quest for the Buried Moon (Hardcover)

I like fantasies about princesses and British wizards as much as the next person, but it was wonderful to meet up with Magpie Gabbard and follow her breathlessly on her daisy chain of quests through the Kentucky mountains. Though you won't find the word "hillbilly" in the book, Magpie and her clan have a Hatfield-and-McCoy-worthy feud going on with the clan down the mountain. The feud is only one of a number of deftly intertwined plot lines--read this rollicking tale to learn about everything from the the spot on a time-traveling wild boar where the key must be inserted to procedures for handling goblins when they hang around on the porch at night like a bunch of supernatural gangbangers. And then there's the foot: you've got to love a book that starts out, "I mean to visit my brother Milo and give him back his foot." Author Sally Keehn draws on the American tall tale tradition as well as on fairy tale motifs such as the head in the well (who wants his hair combed) and the moon buried in a swamp by goblins. Did I mention that Gabbard honey has teeth-whitening properties, or that Granny Goforth has a prophesying kettle? Face it: we are living in a time when there's a real glut of fantasy on the children's literature market, and many of the books seem to blur together into one big blob of mediocre language and laborious plot construction. But not this book, fortunately--Magpie Gabbard is a standout.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magical Journey with a Girl You'll Never Forget, April 1, 2007

By 

Thankful (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magpie Gabbard and the Quest for the Buried Moon (Hardcover)

This wonderful book starts with one Magpie Gabbard needing to get her brother's foot back to him. She knows she'll have to brave Goblins, the vicious Sizemores, and her mother's wrath. Not to mention a wild hog. This book grabs you from the beginning and NEVER LETS GO to the very end, which is surprisingly moving and completely satisfying. You will do well to buy a copy for every kid you know, and keep one for yourself.