Summer on the Moon by Adrian Fogelin

Description from Goodreads

It is the beginning of summer vacation. Socko and his best friend Damien entertain themselves playing with the decrepit old elevator in their tenement or throwing things off the roof, taking special care to avoid the local Tarantula gang and its leader, Rapp.

I gave this book four stars out of five

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick, easy read, perfect for secondary school age children, but with enough interest for those of us that are a little older, but still young at heart.

This was a story of change and escape. Escape to a better standard of living, from a world in which fear and worry were the dominant factors in the life of the protagonist, a life of poverty, to one in which he was introduced to a different world, a world in which he felt part of a family. It was about the struggle to move on and leave behind his best friend, knowing that his friend’s life would begin to landslide as a result. It was a story of loyalty between friends, under difficult circumstances.

The story was also about learning to deal with new situations and people. Our protagonist learned how to connect with people from a different generation and also about the joys, and confusions, of first love.

I really liked the protagonist, Socko, named for the Greek philosopher, Socrates. What a cool name. The characters the author created seemed very real and I enjoyed the relationships that Socko had with his best friend Damien, and then with Livvy. How the friendship, and love, blossomed between Socko and Livvy was fun to see, as was the lack of realisation that Socko had about it.

Livvy was also undergoing a pivotal life change, although hers was in the opposite direction to that of Socko, coming from a far more privileged background. The changes that both were experiencing eventually brought them together, each starting from opposite ends of the spectrum.

I really liked this story and would certainly recommend it to others. It had a message of hope, that by helping others, you would ultimately be rewarded. It was a book about growth and change, and that bad people receive their just desserts.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by Netgalley and the publisher.