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Young Adult Fiction General

No Moon

by (author) Irene N. Watts

Publisher
Tundra
Initial publish date
Apr 2010
Category
General, General, Girls & Women
Recommended Age
12 to 18
Recommended Grade
7 to 12
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780887769719
    Publish Date
    Apr 2010
    List Price
    $14.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

A story of reliance and resilience.Did you call out to us, Johnny, before your small body was dragged down under the water? Why didn't we hear you? I am sorry! I'll never forget.

Louisa Gardener is the fourteen-year-old nursemaid to the young daughters of a wealthy, titled family living in London, England, in 1912.

Despite the bullying Nanny Mackintosh, for whom she is an extra pair of hands, she loves her work and her young charges. Then everything changes. The family decides to sail to New York aboard the Titanic. An accident to the children's nanny, only days prior to the sailing, means that Louisa must go in her stead. She cannot refuse, although she dreads even the mention of the ocean. Memories she has suppressed, except in nightmares, come crowding back.

When Louisa was five and her sister seven years old, their two-year-old brother died on an outing to the seaside. Since that time, Louisa has had a fear of the ocean. She blames herself for the accident, though she has been told it wasn't her fault.

If Louisa refuses to go on the voyage, she will be dismissed, and she will never get beyond the working-class life she has escaped from.

How Louisa learns self-reliance, overcomes her fears, and goes beyond what is expected of a girl makes No Moon an unforgettable story.

About the author

In 1968 Irene N. Watts came to Canada from Britain, where she had arrived thirty years earlier from Germany, via Kindertransport. She is a writer/playwright, theatre director, and educator. Her plays for young audiences have been widely produced. Awards include a Vancouver Theatre Alliance Jessie Richardson for Goodbye Marianne (Scirocco Drama and Anchorage Press, U.S.); the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People; the Isaac Frischwasser Memorial Award (Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards, 1999 and 2001); the Government of Alberta Achievement Award for Outstanding Service to Drama. Irene is a Lifetime Member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Recent publications include Tapestry of Hope: Holocaust Writing for Young People, compiled with Lillian Boraks-Nemetz (Tundra Books).

Irene N. Watts' profile page

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR GOOD-BYE MARIANNE, THE GRAPHIC NOVEL:
"... Based on true events, this fictional account of hatred and racism speaks volumes about both history and human nature. "
MultiCultural Review

Librarian Reviews

No Moon

Louisa Gardener is the 14-year-old nursemaid to the young daughters of a wealthy, titled family in London, England, in 1912. Louisa loves her work and her young charges, but when the family decides to sail to New York aboard the Titantic, her fear of the ocean comes rushing back. She cannot refuse to go or she will be replaced and will never get beyond the working-class life she has escaped.

Source: The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Best Books for Kids & Teens. 2011.

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