Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig

Published by HQ, 1st June 2017
Hardback £12.99, eBook, Audio Edition £12.99
With thanks to Midas PR and the author for sending me a review copy of the book.

Blurb:

Meet Ginny. She’s fourteen, autistic, and has a heart-breaking secret…

‘Brilliant’ – Graeme Simison, author of The Rosie Project

Ginny Moon is trying to make sense of a world that just doesn’t seem to add up….

After years in foster care, Ginny is in her fourth forever family, finally with parents who will love her.

Everyone tells her that she should feel happy, but she has never stopped crafting her Big Secret Plan of Escape.

Because something happened, a long time ago – something that only Ginny knows – and nothing will stop her going back to put it right…

A fiercely poignant and inspirational story a lost girl searching for a place to call home. Ginny Moon will change everyone who spends time with her.

My Review:

This is a heartfelt, emotional story of a girl's mission to take care of the only thing that mattered to her from a time of great difficulty.

Ginny is a very likeable, determined character and I thought that the author wrote very cleverly to portray the different thought processes of someone who is autistic. Obviously these may not be the same for everyone, but as an example, I liked the way Ginny couldn't answer if anyone asked her more than one question at once, they had to ask one question at a time or she would get confused about what they wanted. Ginny's story has definitely highlighted to me the daily challenges that autistic people may face with communication.

This book also highlights the challenges of adoption and raising an autistic child. I really felt for Ginny's "Forever Mom" and "Forever Dad" as Ginny could be difficult to handle. However, the attitudes of the mum also frustrated me a lot at times. Although some of her reactions were understandable, I felt like she stopped trying to understand Ginny for a while and that upset me a bit.

The pace is a little slow at times and there were also a few elements of the story which didn't wrap up as well as I'd hoped, however the story was gripping. Unfortunately, I did guess Ginny's secret pretty much immediately, but that did not stop this from being an insightful, moving and entertaining read, which also handles the issue of abusive parents and the social care system tactfully.

I would give this 3 out of 5.

The Author

Benjamin Ludwig is a middle school language arts teacher, who has been teaching both children and adults since 1997. He believes strongly in supporting the voiceless and the displaced, especially their need for attachment. Shortly after he and his wife were married they became foster parents, and adopted their first placement: a teenager with autism and developmental disabilities. Ginny Moon was inspired in part by conversations he had with other parents at Special Olympics basketball practices. He hopes to adopt again after his daughter transitions into adulthood. Benjamin lives in New Hampshire.


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