''Maggot Moon'' is a young adult novel written by

Sally Gardner Sally Gardner is a British children writer and illustrator. She won both the Costa Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal for ''Maggot Moon'' (Hot Key Books, 2012). Under her pseudonym Wray Delaney she has also written adult novels.

, illustrated by Julian Crouch, and published February 12, 2013 by

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. Sebastian Walker launched Walker Books from ...

. The book takes place in an alternate timeline of 1956 as the characters live in "The Motherland," telling a tale of what could have happened had the Nazis won the Second World War. In 2013, the book won the Carnegie Medal.

Reception

''Maggot Moon'' received starred reviews from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

,'' ''

The Horn Book ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...

'', and ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'', as well as positive reviews from ''

The School Librarian The School Library Association (SLA) is an independent organization in the United Kingdom which promotes libraries and literacy in schools. The SLA was founded in 1937 and is based at Kembrey Park in north-eastern Swindon. It is a charity registe ...

'', ''

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books ''The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books'' is an academic journal established in 1945 by Frances E. Henne (Graduate Library School, University of Chicago).Wedgeworth, Robert. ''World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services''. Chi ...

'', and ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

''. ''Publishers Weekly'' wrote, "Parts of the story are very hard to read—early on, a classmate is beaten to death by a teacher in the schoolyard—but the violence asks readers to consider what the world would be like if certain events in history had turned out differently." They continue the review, noting that "Gardner does a masterful job of portraying Standish’s dyslexia through the linguistic swerves of his narration, and although the ending is pure heartbreak, she leaves readers with a hopeful message about the power of one boy to stand up to evil." Writing for ''The Horn Book'', Deirdre Baker noted that the "tale has the terse, energetic tension of poetry" and the main characters' "phrases and sentences roll out with irony, tenderness, horror, or love, but always vividly." Margaret Pemberton, writing for ''The School Librarian'', stated, "This is one of those ‘Wow’ books that come along now and then," noting that Gardner has written a "true classic." ''

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' reviewed the book poorly, explaining, "Despite short chapters and simple vocabulary and syntax, the detailed, sadistic violence makes this is a poor choice for younger readers, while oversimplified characters, a feeble setting and inauthentic science make it a tough sell for older ones." They finished the review by saying, "Despite intentions, this tale never connects past to present, resulting in a book with a message but no resonance." Beyond popular media, ''Maggot Moon'' has been discussed in academic journals for its

multimodality Multimodality is the application of multiple literacies within one medium. For example, understanding a televised weather forecast (medium) involves understanding spoken language, written language, weather specific language (such as temperature s ...

References

{{S-end 2013 British novels 2013 children's books British children's novels British alternative history novels Children's historical novels Novels set in the 1950s Carnegie Medal in Literature winning works Candlewick Press books