Customer Reviews

A Summer of Silk Moths

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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+


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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.

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.

A Summer of Silk Moths places you in the space of real teenagers and real change. Nora is a troubled girl from Indianapolis who comes to live with her estranged Uncle Abe. Pete is a small town boy trying to ignore his past. The two of them change each other in wondrous ways. As a YA, it's a strong analysis of the problems of contemporary teens. As a romance, it is bittersweet, but is appropriate for both tweens and teens. I found myself unable to put the book down, as I really cared about all of the characters and the skillful way Willey bought them to life. Don't miss this book.

First impressions are not always the best to remember. "A Summer of Silk Moths" tells the story of Pete and Abe, and their encounters with Nora. Trying to build a memorial to Abe's brother, they soon find that Nora may be Abe's niece, daughter of his deceased brother. A unique story of uncovering the past, "A Summer of Silk Moths" is an intriguing and finely crafted read.

I'm a big fan of Clever Beatrice, but I'm happy to see that Willey is continuing to write for young adults. As a native of Western Michigan, the setting definitely appealed to me. I loved the moth imagery, and the evocation of the natural world. The characters and their dilemmas were complex, modern and believable.

This is a wonderful book that should appeal to many readers!

I loved this book! Possibly because of its lyricism...possibly because of Willey's ability to evoke the natural world like some of the great classic books of my childhood, "The Girl of the Limberlost," and "Where the Lilies Bloom." My sense is that teens will love it today for those reasons and also for how well Willey is able to channel the teen psyche--the confusion, the uncertainty, the way the world seems to turn upside down in an instant. Pete and Nora are both running away from their demons and searching for something they can't define. Willey deftly weaves together their at-first grudging, but later, growing affection with the elusive vanishing wild world. It's magical and real at the same time.

This is a wonderful book about a troubled runaway girl who, with a little help, starts to find her place in the world.

When Nora arrives at the nature center run by Abe, her dead father's brother, she is just spitting with attitude. Pete, the teenage narrator who works for Abe, resents her intrusion into their well-ordered world. The shifting relationships between Pete, Nora and the other characters are very believable and affecting. The nature preserve is an evocative and powerful presence in the story, a safe place in which to reveal secrets and peel back the layers of deception that the various characters have accreted. I found myself thinking about the people in the book for days after I had finished the story, wondering how they might react in certain situations, and what happens after this narrative ends (how about a sequel?). It is not often that minor characters are as captivating and three-dimensional as the ones in this book, and that adds a welcome richness to the story. Willey has created a real and solid world which is funny, poignant, complex and mysterious.