The Moon Won't Talk - by Morgan Howell (Paperback)

About the Book

"It's 1966 and George Parker, a reclusive teenager with a bright mind and a vivid imagination, is facing a boring summer in Eden, South Carolina, an oak-shrouded riverside town with magic seeping from the cracks and fissures of its peaceful antebellum facade. George has resigned himself to battling boredom with his faithful dog, Buster, a box of comic books, his bike, Lightning, and a fishing rod, but plans change when Gerard Free moves into the decaying old mansion next door. A handsome, flamboyant outsider with bad habits and mysterious secrets, Mr. Free, who claims he can talk to the moon, is on a mission to recover the soul of his dead lover. As summer unfolds, George defies his parents to assist Mr. Free in his quest, embarking on an adventure that includes a crazy flying ghost; the enchanting music of the big bands; odd neighbors who are far more than the eye reveals; and a beautiful girl who is forbidden in George's world."--Publisher marketing.

Book Synopsis

It's 1966, and George Parker, a reclusive teenager with a bright mind and a vivid imagination, is facing a boring summer in Eden, South Carolina, an oak-shrouded riverside town with magic seeping from the cracks and fissures of its peaceful antebellum faç ade. George has resigned himself to battling boredom with his faithful dog, Buster, a box of comic books, his bike, Lightning, and a fishing rod, but plans change when Gerard Free moves into the decaying old mansion next door. A handsome, flamboyant outsider with bad habits and mysterious secrets, Mr. Free, who claims he can talk to the moon, is on a mission to recover the soul of his dead lover. As summer unfolds, George defies his parents to assist Mr. Free in his quest, embarking on an adventure that includes a crazy flying ghost; the enchanting music of the big bands; odd neighbors who are far more than the eye reveals; and a beautiful girl, who is forbidden in George's world.

Review Quotes

The endearing protagonist of Morgan Howell's The Moon Won't Talk speaks with the wisdom of youth and the wit of a poet in this coming-of-age story teeming with ghosts, naive young love, mysterious neighbors and dreamy days spent fishing beside the river. Howell's supernatural bildungsroman is sure to transport readers back to the wonders and growing pains of their own boyhoods. Ellen Parent, author of After the Fall

A spellbinding coming-of-age story in which fantasy conjoins with life to push the limits of the possible, and a cast of unforgettable mentors guides a young protagonist as he slips between worlds and discovers what it means to be human. An enchanting storyteller, Howell has a perfect ear, and he works his writing like magic, with sentences that are carefully wrought and full of song and sweet mischief. Thérèse Soukar Chehade, author of Loom and We Walked On

Morgan Howell's fantastical coming-of-age tale reveals its author as the real wizard: He conjures an American village of the 1960s, not as nostalgia might soften it - with warmth and joy only - but with all the shameful customs and painful social and economic realities of the era. Though this Eden is not one, it is on the verge of urgently needed change that will start it and its residents down the road to the future. Teen readers will experience both shock and wonder as a young man named George finds his humdrum, small-town summer magicked into a wild eruption of truth and amazing possibility that offers him the chance to lead the revolution he and his flawed Eden need. Carolyn Jack, author of The Changing of Keys

You know the kind of book that you just don't want to end? The Moon Won't Talk is that kind of book. It's wonderful and mystical, thought-provoking and throughout its pages it is nostalgic to the point where it will break your heart. The plot is strong, and the characters are well-defined and all but one (the bully) are so likeable. The author has written a true picture of human nature in the low country of South Carolina during a previous era. He writes with compassion for those caught up in a changing and pervading South. I particularly enjoyed how the music of the Big Band Era was sprinkled throughout. I may never listen to Glenn Miller with the same set of ears. Morgan Howell is a gifted author with unlimited imagination. This novel proves it. Author and humorist, Cappy Hall Rearick In The Moon Won't Talk, author

Morgan G. Howell joins the pantheon of Southern writers, blending wit, legend, and social commentary in a coming-of-age tale that includes a mysterious mathematical formula, an old lost love, a new forbidden romance, and ghosts! Set in the 1960s South, The Moon Won't Talk is story of both its time and ours, a riverboat ride that does not disappoint.--Steven Mayfield, award-winning author of Treasure of the Blue Whale, Delphic Oracle, U.S.A., and The Penny Mansions.

About the Author

Morgan Howell builds stories from elements of speculative fiction, magical realism, southern gothic, and doing the right thing regardless of the cost. He is a lifetime resident of the Low Country of South Carolina, where tales of the supernatural are as common as slow-moving rivers and forgotten graveyards. He has written short stories and novels since discovering a beat-up old Royal typewriter in the trunk of a rusty Impala in 1983.