Ashleigh Mounser, Blair Moon: How to be cooler than the moon, Ford Street Publishing, October 2023, 280 pp., RRP $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922696373
I’m not President, and I’m definitely not cool, but a moon never gives up. Just goes away for a bit and then comes back, bigger and better and brighter than ever.
Blair Moon’s voice will ring strongly in your head for days after putting this book down. This is Ashleigh Mounser’s debut children’s novel and has crafted the voice of a precocious, strong-willed 11-year-old with an intensity and verve that children will adore.
The story is set between where Blair Moon lives with her mother in an aged care facility and the primary school she is being sent to after years of ‘home schooling’ by octogenarians’ comes to an end. If Blair is going to ‘endure’ the annoyance of school (i.e. teachers, principals, misinformation, babyish schoolyard games) then she will run for President. And she will win.
This story is a ‘coming of age’ story of a child whose world view is more mature than the irritating adults she is surrounded by and makes for a laugh out loud yet philosophical read. Blair Moon: How To Be Cooler Than The Moon is a terribly cool yet deep middle-grade fiction read for aspirational children aged 10-13 years.
Reviewed by Stef Gemmill
