Moonpie and Ivy [Hardcover]

Barbara O'Connor (Author)

Book Description

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

A girl abandoned by her mother discovers the feeling of family

Pearl's mother, Ruby, just up and left her with Aunt Ivy, who's a complete stranger to Pearl. "Your mama's done gone off the deep end," Ivy says, and Pearl wonders if she'll ever come back - Ruby has always been wild and irresponsible. So Pearl is stuck with Aunt Ivy, and Moonpie, the neighbor boy whose mother doesn't want him, either, and John Dee, Aunt Ivy's Beau. But these three people seem to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, in a way that Pearl can't comprehend, and she feels left out. As she starts to understand what connects them, and how much she wants to be a part of it, Ruby appears.

With a vividly depicted setting, emotional truth, and a distinctly Southern voice, Barbara O'Connor shows how Pearl develops a whole new notion of what she wants, and what she deserves.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ruby used to call her 12-year-old daughter Pearl her "little gem," but Pearl knows better. If she were really "a gem," her mother wouldn't have dumped her at her aunt Ivy's house in Georgia and driven off into the dust. Once Pearl realizes her mom didn't just run to the 7-Eleven for cigarettes, she reluctantly settles in, warily observing her generous, loving Aunt Ivy--half-hoping her crazy, irresponsible mother comes back soon and half-hoping she never comes back at all.

Rural Georgia offers few distractions for a girl from Tallahassee, but Pearl does meet the strange Moonpie, an 11-year-old boy with transparent skin and cantaloupe-colored hair who lives in a ramshackle house with his dying grandmother Mama Nell. With the help of Aunt Ivy, Mama Nell, and Moonpie, Pearl stitches together clues to her own identity as she learns about her grandparents and her own mother who everyone says "had the devil in her." Pearl is the spitting image of this "devil girl." Does that mean she is fated to repeat her mistakes?

Thanks to Barbara O'Connor's clean, honest prose, readers will fully identify with Pearl's mixture of resentment and longing. What will happen if her mother never comes back? What if she does? There are no pat answers served up in this well-crafted, down-home, straight-talking story about the yearning for love. (Ages 10 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Like O'Connor's Me and Rupert Goody, this novel set in the rural South features a spunky, independent heroine, a compassionate adult and a rival preteen peer who vies for that adult's affection. Twelve-year-old Pearl lands at her Aunt Ivy's door one day when Pearl's irresponsible mother, Ruby, decides she needs a break. As the sweltering summer progresses, Pearl grows to appreciate both Ivy and her odd-looking neighbor, 11-year-old Moonpie. Postcards that Pearl addresses to her absentee mother allow readers a glimpse into the girl's feelings and confusion, and Pearl learns a great deal about her mother and her roots through Ivy's and Moonpie's stories. Those who have read Rupert Goody may feel they have traveled this road before, but O'Connor's characters are just as eccentric and convincing as ever. Although the ending is ambiguous (Ruby returns, but is that good or bad?), readers cannot help but feel that resourceful Pearl will land on her feet and that Ivy is never far away. Ages 10-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (March 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374350590
• ISBN-13: 978-0374350598
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,234,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barbara O'Connor was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. She draws on her Southern roots to write award-winning books for children in grades 3 to 6. Her awards include the Parents Choice Gold and Silver Award, American Library Association Notable Books, and IRA Notable Books for a Global Society. Her books have been nominated for children's choice awards in over 20 states and voted as a state favorite by children in South Carolina, Indiana, Kansas, and South Dakota. When Barbara isn't busy writing, she travels to schools to conduct writing workshops with young students, works in her garden, walks with her dogs, and thinks up ways to avoid cooking.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a story, in which every word rings true., July 15, 2001

By 

Ann Cameron (Panajachel, Guatemala) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moonpie and Ivy (Hardcover)

This is a heartbreaking and haunting book, that's also full of hope. When Pearl's crazy, cut-off-from-everybody mother dumps her with an unknown aunt on a rundown farm, Pearl is desolate. But her stay with Aunt Ivy is a great opportunity to experience family and stability for the first time. As it dawns on Pearl that her irresponsible mother is really crazy, she also becomes able to give and receive love herself and envision a sane and happy future. This is a novel with no false happy ending, but much real happiness. It treats its young heroine's dilemma with utter honesty.

The Buddha said "Truth is the refuge"--not that you'll find any references to him in the story. Often there's a temptaton in children's fiction to make Walt Disney the refuge, to write candy-coated stories where difficulties are glossed over and impossible hopes are flawlessly fulfilled. In this novel, as in life, victories are hard-earned and incomplete--but there's a beauty and a refuge in its truth that will stay with young readers and sustain them through their own hard times.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't Put It Down, October 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Moonpie and Ivy (Hardcover)

Twelve year old Pearl is left with her Aunt Ivy one summer, abandoned by her free-willing, self-centered mother, Ruby. I felt as though I was right there with her as she dealt with her pain and confusion. This book draws you in and keeps you there. Barbara O'Connor is right up there with authors like Katherine Paterson and Cynthia Voight. Wonderful read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful writing, August 17, 2007

By 

Savvy Sal (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moonpie and Ivy (Paperback)

This is storytelling that climbs off the page right into your heart. The kind of book you want to sit down and read in one sitting. The writing seems effortless, but of course it's not, it takes real time and effort to write this well. Can't wait to read her others.