Moon at Nine

Ellis, Deborah. Moon at Nine. Pajama Press, 2014.

Imagine that Annie on My Mind took place in Iran during the 1980s, and that instead of living unhappily ever after, the main characters face much worse fates due to the laws of the land. This is what awaits the reader of Moon at Nine. Farrin goes to a school for gifted girls, and when Sadira begins attending her school, Farrin realizes that she loves her. Amid all of the political upheaval in her country, she is caught kissing Sadira and the two are punished: they are to be kept separate and advanced quickly through their programs while their parents try to find husbands for them. Farrin thinks she can't survive without seeing Sadira, but can she survive if they stay together?

Wow. This book is set in a different culture than my own and a different time period. The girls are living through historical events that I can barely begin to imagine. And to think that if my wife and I had lived in that place, we could have suffered the same fate as Sadira and Farrin - it's unimaginable. This is an excellent book to give a picture of live in a different country under a different government where people are not granted the same freedoms we are given in the United States. Although the subject matter is difficult, this book is amazingly free of graphic red flags that could naturally occur in such a story.

Recommended for: teens and adults
Red Flags: some alcohol use (by adults), Farrin witnesses executions when she is in jail, minor language
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-alikes for: Annie on My Mind, If You Could Be Mine

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley for the purposes of review.