A Summer of Silk Moths [Paperback]

Margaret Willey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 2009

People can't always tell everything. Sometimes they have to leave things out so that they can recover. Start over. So that people will still be able to love them.

Seventeen-year-old Pete Shelton's life revolves around helping his friend Abe McMichael build Riverside, a nature preserve dedicated to the memory of Abe's brother, Paul. Then one summer a troubled runaway shows up—a girl named Nora who claims to be Paul's daughter. All her life, Nora has lived with secrets and lies, never knowing anything about her father. Although enemies at first, Pete and Nora slowly begin to piece together their shadowy pasts . . . and discover that their lives intertwine in a way they never imagined.

"A Summer of Silk Moths gives us the bewilderment and wonderment that real growth always brings, in a setting as fresh and tender as a new green leaf."
—Kathe Koja, bestselling author of Buddha Boy

"A thoughtful, complex and moving story about loss and discovery of identity, love and the ability to change and the restorative powers of nature."
—Kirkus Reviews

An Honor Book for the 2010 Green Earth Book Awards in the category of Young Adult Fiction.

 

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Pete Sullivan's world is turned upside down when a mysterious runaway girl shows up at the nature preserve where he works. Nora claims to be the niece of Pete's coworker and mentor, Abe, and says that Riverside was built in her father's memory. Pete struggles to determine if it's worth the effort to dig through Nora's hostility and get to know her. Along the way, the two discover buried secrets about their pasts, what it really means to be a family, and a little about love. Nourished by the wilderness surrounding Riverside, Pete, Nora, and Abe all learn what it means to start over, to evolve, to change and grow, and, finally, to emerge from their protective cocoons and fly free. Characters are engaging and engrossing, and the well-written descriptions of rural Michigan are detailed and gorgeous. Readers easily become mesmerized by the gradually unfolding plot and the growth and development of the main characters as they discover who they really are and what they mean to one another. However, the backstory is overly complicated and the ending leaves as many questions unanswered as it manages to resolve.—Wendy E. Dunn, Fort Worth Public Library, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

High-schooler Pete feels deeply connected to the land that once belonged to his adoptive family and that he is now helping to turn into a nature preserve in his rural Michigan community. His quiet routine involves working and planning with the land’s caretaker, Abe, who is like a brother to Pete, and sketching the immaculately preserved, award-winning moth collection left by Abe’s brother, Paul, who died as a very young man. The summer idyll is disrupted with the appearance of Paul’s previously unknown daughter, the brooding, bitter Nora. There is immediate animosity between Pete and Nora as she disrupts the routine and his friendship with Abe. But as Pete grows to understand more of Nora’s situation, the history of these two families, and their connection to the land, a friendship and fledgling romance develop between the two. Unfortunately, dismal cover art will turn some readers away, and many unanswered questions will disappoint others. This is a quiet slice-of-life story with an interesting natural-science frame, good character development, and solid supporting characters. Grades 7-10. --Heather Booth

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Flux (October 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738715409
• ISBN-13: 978-0738715407
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,154,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Runaways

More About the Author

Margaret Willey grew up in a lakeside town in Michigan, the eldest daughter in a family of eleven children. Reading stories and poems to her younger brothers and sisters led her to a life of writing stories and poems for young readers. She is the author of many young adult novels, most recently A SUMMER OF SILK MOTHS (Flux 2009) as well as picture books with an emphasis on folktales. She is the author of the CLEVER BEATRICE series, as well as THE 3 BEARS AND GOLDILOCKS (Atheneum 2008). She has received many honors for her books, including The Charlotte Zolotow Award and the Anne Izard Storytellers Choice Award. She continues to write for both teens and younger readers and is a lifetime resident of Michigan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wondrously Fresh, Touching Story, May 1, 2010

By 

Books and Literature for Teens (BLT) (Southwest, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Summer of Silk Moths (Paperback)

A Summer of Silk Moths is an earthy, emotional story as delicate and complicated as moths themselves.Lightly based on the well known novel, Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter, Willey's retelling of the story was just as fresh and fascinating with a present-day appeal. The narrative storyline through Pete's eyes was very detailed and full of emotion. Willey first wrote A Summer of the Silk Moths with Nora as the narrator, but Nora's character was too rough, almost angry. Pete was observant and sensitive making the story come to life in the forest marshes of Michigan. You could even smell the damp forest or hear the moth's beating wings. I think what made this book cling to me long after the final page was the vibrant scenery and the hidden secrets that surrounded the heart of this novel. All the characters have such a strong emotional attachment to the overall development of the story, it was very easy to connect with Pete and Nora. Pete and Nora were both sensitive characters. They constantly fed off of each other's emotions making the story more complex as it went along. Willey compares life to moths--which were an important part of the story--because they are extremely intricate, misunderstood, and elusive. As the book digs even deeper and despite all the lies, anger, and hurt, both Nora and Pete have experienced, they must learn to forgive, love, and move on. I was almost heart broken to find that Pete and Nora's future was left unfinished; but I guess what? Willey is writing a sequel as I speak, and I can hardly wait to read it! Overall, A Summer of Silk Moths is an wondrously fresh, touching story of two teens drowning in a river of secrets. The moths will help them, but will they be able to survive the truth? I highly recommend this book to fans of Portor's ageless novel and those who like a good drama moths or no moths!

|Age Group: YA, ages 14+|Content: Dramatic family situation and some sensuality|
|Recommend?| Yes, for teens 14+


Courtesy of [...]

5.0 out of 5 stars Vividly told..., March 29, 2010

By 

Robert W. Conrow (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Summer of Silk Moths (Kindle Edition)

This is a wonderful book, vividly told, and suitable for anyone including young men. I mention this because the cover might indicate this is a girl's book. Not so! The protagonist, Pete Shelton, is clearly a guy but with a sensitive heart.
Margaret Willey portrays her characters with the skill of a detective novelist. Secrets are doled out selectively as the tension builds to the surprise climax. Silk Moths will attract all young adult readers, including those suffering from today's anti-reading syndrome. This is clearly THE book to get them hooked.

5.0 out of 5 stars A fresh topic for YA, February 22, 2010

By 

Christine Kole MacLean - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Summer of Silk Moths (Paperback)

Summer of the Silk Moths is a beautifully written novel about two teens who long for connection--connection to nature, connection to each other, connection to themselves, sometimes even connection to those who have passed on--and yet are cut off from it by the secrets that they keep, and secrets that others keep from them. Against the backdrop of the nature preserve they are tied to, Pete and Nora each wrestle with losses in their past, losses that overlap in surprising ways that lead them to new insights about themselves and the people they thought they knew. I highly recommend the book to young adults who relish a good story well told. Also, the book was recently named an Honor book by the Green Earth Book Award! The award is given to books that reinforce the importance of environmental stewardship, which Willey does with a deft touch.