Moonflower by Kacen Callender

Abstract

Reviewed by: Moonflower by Kacen Callender April Spisak Callender, Kacen Moonflower. Scholastic, 2022 [272p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781338636598 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781338636628 $17.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 5-8 Moon has never felt tethered to the regular world, plagued by a deep sadness they can't identify. Nightly journeys out of their body take them to the spirit realms, and Moon knows that these places hold the key to permanent freedom from Earth and their struggles. But Moon must save the realms after they make a selfish choice that upsets the balance of the worlds. Moon's single mother, meanwhile, is understandably alarmed that her only child said they don't belong on Earth before ceasing to speak for months, and she desperately hopes therapy will help Moon. To Moon, the spirit realm is truly where they belong, away from an everyday life filled with racism, hate, and tediousness: "There isn't any point in hiding from the truth when I see it everywhere. Black people like me, arrested and killed because of the color of their skin. Transgender and nonbinary people told we don't exist." Callender offers an elegant, mysterious story of a child who uses healing skills learned on the spirit side to anchor them to their waking life, though nothing is lost if the story is instead read as a psychological, metaphorical journey. There's no magical, instant fix, but Moon ultimately decides to stick around, and that is certainly a notable start. [End Page 347] Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois