Blow Out the Moon

When Libby finds out that she is moving to London with her family, she never imagines anything but wonderful adventures. However, when the ocean liner docks in gray, cold England, she's not so sure. Her English school is quite a shock and she misses her friends in America dreadfully-especially her best friend, Henry. But once she decides to leave London and her family for boarding school, everything changes.

This exuberant coming-of-age story follows very American Libby to her boarding school deep in the English countryside. In her struggle to learn proper English ways-from riding horses to eating with a knife and fork the "right" way — she grows from a reckless little girl into a young lady. But Libby never loses her sense of adventure, and the English are in for some surprises, too! First-time novelist Libby Koponen tells her story with humor and honesty. Blow Out the Moon is based on her own life and includes photographs and other souvenirs from her schooldays. This is a joyful, poignant book that young readers will love and treasure for years to come.

"Rumble kicks off the Adventures of Uncle Stinky series with this scattered, daft story of a man who 'smells like old fish and onions' and hails from the city of Hootenholler. Copiously illustrated with amateurish cartoons, the book is narrated by Zack, the smelly fellow's nephew, who laments the fact that his aspiring do-gooder uncle has a less-than-exemplary sidekick in Pickle ('he deserves better company than a kosher dill'). So Zack (with clothespin clipped to his nose) volunteers himself and his baby brother to take over as sidekicks. Cautioning readers that 'You're gonna need this if you're gonna join our adventures!' Zack, using a chart of various nose types, offers advice on selecting an appropriate clothespin. Then 'It's Story Time with Uncle Stinky!' brings a ridiculous yarn about an enormous, bumbling blue dog. The pace hardly picks up as Uncle Stinky helps the balding Mayor Naise disguise his bad comb-over by covering his scalp with worms meant to resemble hair; and then sets off a string of calamities when the odiferous hero yanks up a woman's falling-down pants, giving her a 'bit of a wedgie.' As an incongruent closure to this inanity, the author awards two sisters (pictured in a photo) as 'Honorary Sidekicks!' for helping out with a class of children with special needs. It's difficult to imagine where this series is headed, but it's unlikely that many readers will follow on to Stink Trek, due this fall. Ages 7-11. (May)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Billed as a novel, this debut describes the year and a half the author spent as an American child in England during the late '50s; like a scrapbook, it incorporates a few family photos, ephemera, handwritten letters, as well as short sidebars explaining terms like 'counterpane' and 'lemon curd.' 'I'll start the story one fall afternoon,' it begins ingenuously, quickly cutting to Libby's excitement at the news that her father has been transferred to 'the London office of J. Walter Thompson.' The chapters move episodically from one memorable event (to Libby, at least) to the next: Every one of Libby's classmates makes her a farewell card when the teacher gives them the opportunity ('I was surprised that the girls liked me so much!'); on the trans-atlantic crossing the family is seated at dinner with a man who wears a 'huge feathered headdress... a kind of turban with big feathers' and long pale green robes, but no one investigates his identity; and at her school, the teacher joins the children in laughing 'in a mean way' at Libby's accent. The book becomes more interesting when Libby's parents find her a wonderful boarding school and Libby delivers the skinny on school matrons, prefects, horses, uniforms — even a midnight feast. Rarely does the author link the episodes or explore young Libby's emotions, and consequently the text feels more like a series of extended travel anecdotes than a work of fiction. Ages 8-12. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"This winsome, nostalgic memoir is as delicate and old-fashioned as a doily on a wingback chair." Kirkus Reviews

"The word delightful is overused in reviews, but it's difficult to find one that's more appropriate for this novelized memoir — though warm and cozy would do in a pinch." Booklist

"...this debut describes the year and a half the author spent as an American child in England during the late '50s; like a scrapbook, it incorporates a few family photos, ephemera, handwritten letters, as well as short sidebars explaining terms like 'counterpane' and 'lemon curd.'" Publisher's Weekly

"...Libby's experiences before, during and after this period of her life are documented in a fictionalized fashion that is entirely refreshing!" Children's Literature

"Koponen is a gifted writer whose distinctive style has a conversational rhythm....She is especially good at describing what to modern children will seem like a very different time..." School Library Journal

Peppered with black-and-white photographs, illustrations, personal letters and documents from the author's own youth, this humorous and touching coming-of-age story follows a young American girl as she attends an English boarding school in the 1950s.