Unhooking the Moon - Hardcover

Hughes, Gregory

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1623650208 ISBN 13: 9781623650209

Publisher: Quercus, 2013

Synopsis

Winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize and a finalist for The Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, a starred review Kirkus Review praised Unhooking the Moon as a “rousing adventure on the not-so-mean streets, with heart aplenty.”
 
When an adventurous sister-and-brother duo become orphans, a funny and heartbreaking roadtrip to New York ensues, as the pair searches for their long-lost uncle.
 
Meet the Rat: A dancing, soccer-loving, fearless ten-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Meet her older brother, Bob: Protector of the Rat, though more often than not her faithful follower, Bob is determined to build a new and better life for him and his sister in America. Of particular concern for him are his sister’s mysterious fits, which keep getting more and more severe.
 
On their adventures traveling alone from the flatlands of Winnipeg, southward across the border into America, Bob and the Rat make friends with a host of unlikely characters, including a hilarious con man and a famous rap star. As they struggle to survive in the big city, they realize that finding your uncle in New York is incredibly difficult if you have almost no information about him—even if he is rumored to be one of the city’s biggest drug dealers.

About this title

Review

An Amazon Best Children’s Book of the Month, October 2013: In this utterly charming adventure, orphaned siblings Bob and his younger sister Marie Claire, a.k.a. the Rat, leave their Winnipeg home for the streets of New York City in search of their long-lost uncle. From homeless men and hustlers to a big-time rapper, the characters we meet in Unhooking the Moon all have one thing in common--adoration of the fearless Rat. And after only a few chapters it becomes obvious why--the Rat has unwavering trust in her instincts about people, and her faith in their goodness brings it to bear, even in the most unlikely circumstances. Brother Bob is her hapless follower and protector and the unbreakable bond between them is one of the greatest pleasures of the book. Even the most improbable events seem plausible in this story and the reader can’t help but root for these kids to find their uncle and rebuild their family.--Seira Wilson

About the Author

Gregory Hughes was born in Liverpool, the eighth child in a family of nine. He was expelled from school and then sent to a home for wayward boys, where he spent some happy times among a cast of larger-than-life characters. After a few years in and out of trouble with the law, he went to university, and since then has travelled the world working as everything from a high-rise window cleaner to a deep-sea diver. He has made his home in many countries around the world, including Canada and the US, but is now back in Liverpool.

About this edition

• Publisher: Quercus
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1623650208
• ISBN 13: 9781623650209
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352