From the Earth to the Moon...

Rupp, Rebecca. 2006. Journey to the Blue Moon: In Which Time Is Lost and Then Found Again.

Journey To The Blue Moon is an entertaining read for young readers; I’d say it would be great for fourth graders to sixth graders. But readers of all ages will find--if they read with open minds--that parts of Journey to The Blue Moon are very cleverly done. Our young hero, Alex, is your typical kid. He finds school pointless, a waste of time. He has difficulty concentrating on his homework. He wants to have fun and not waste his time being bored with learning stuff he finds irrelevant and pointless. His difficulties have only increased since he lost his grandfather’s pocket watch. Time has changed for him since then though he doesn’t quite understand how or why.

A weird encounter with an old woman, Lulu, at the library sends the young boy on a trip to the moon. Let me explain the premise of the novel. Have you ever wondered what happened to all the things we lose? Where do lost things go? Rupp answers this quite seriously by having ALL lost things go to the moon. Everything from the straightforward items like lost keys, books, watches, pencils, pens, toys, clothes, homework assignments to more abstract items like hearts, ways, intentions, memories, dreams, etc. Perhaps my favorite is when the hero and his friends find the place where all books which have been started but never finished are sent and as one of the character points out...they still have the original bookmarks. Our hero, Alex, has three days to find what he has lost and reclaim it or he will be stuck on the moon until the next time it is blue. Many travelers have been wandering lost on the moon for years, centuries, etc. But Alex is determined to go on his quest and suceed. His friends he meets on the way add to the story reminding me of such books as The Wizard of Oz. Each friend has his/her own goal. Each decides its best to have the support of friends along the way.

Overall, I must say I found myself enjoying Journey to the Blue Moon despite the unfortunate book cover--although perhaps that is just my opinion. I find myself liking fantasy novels, but hating their covers. I don’t know how typical that is. But anyway, I would definitely recommend Journey to the Blue Moon.