Over the Moon
by Natalie Lloyd (Author)
Twelve-year-old Mallie knows better than to dream. In Coal Top, you live the story you're given: boys toil in the mines and girls work as servants. Mallie can't bear the idea of that kind of life, but her family is counting on her wages to survive.
It wasn't always this way. Before the Dust came, the people of Coal Top could weave starlight into cloth. They'd wear these dreaming clothes to sleep and wake up with the courage to seek adventure . . . or the peace to heal a broken heart. But now nothing can penetrate Coal Top's blanket of sorrow.
So when Mallie is chosen for a dangerous competition in which daring (and ideally, orphaned) children train flying horses, she jumps at the chance. Maybe she'll change her story. Maybe she'll even find the magic she needs to dream again.
But the situation proves even more dangerous when Mallie uncovers a sinister mystery at the heart of Coal Top's struggles -- a mystery some powerful people will do anything to protect.
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School Library Journal
Gr 3-7-Plucky 12-year-old Mallie Ramble is determined to restore some hope to her struggling family. The dreaded Guardians are trying to force her younger brother to work in the deadly mines unless the family pays them an impossible amount of money. Mallie, who has one arm, finds a mysterious advertisement is seeking fearless boys for dangerous adventures and amazing rewards. Disguised as a boy, Mallie traverses the Dust-covered mountains where stars have been unseen for decades to find out what this mission is all about. It turns out the Guardians know that flying horses still exist, but they will only respond to children. The children are sent on dangerous journeys to gather gold dust from neighboring mountains only to find that the Dust is not everywhere after all. Mallie is a brave character, wholly undefined by her limb difference. With courageous friends, she figures out some pretty important things about her community and how to change life for the better, not just for her family but for everyone. Cassandra Morris is the perfect narrator for this audiobook; her voice, inflections, and intonation are all that of a young girl. She speaks with a very convincing Southern accent, and her pacing is flawless, building whenever the story demands it and slowing to a crawl when Mallie questions her ability to successfully complete her goals. VERDICT Fans of A Snicker of Magic will love this production.-B. Allison Gray, Goleta Valley Library, CA.
Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
