Maggot Moon [Kindle Edition]

This is the first book I have read in 2013, and boy has it raised the bar for whatever else I read this year. I think the blurb tells you pretty much all you need to know, so I won't summarise any further - it's one of those occasions where you want to tell people `I won't give too much away - just read it!'.
It's written in deceptively simple prose and in that sense, it's easy to read. I rattled through it because I wanted to find out what happened to Standish and Hector. But at some point I am going to have to go back and reread it to truly appreciate the fine craftsmanship of the writing. On another level, it doesn't make for easy reading because of the truly awful things going on in the Motherland - particularly when you realise with unease that similar things have indeed happened in human history. And are happening still. Sally Gardner is known for her `unique blend of magic and historical realism', and in this case there is the inkling that you might be reading a re-imagined history. It's all the more powerful because the world doesn't feel like some distant dystopia - it all seems very close to home. You really get a sense of the precariousness of the characters' situation, and though they are two very different books, I would compare the emotional response I got from reading Maggot Moon to what I experienced when I read Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. It's both heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful, because it illustrates the eternal presence of friendship, courage and hope in even the most dire of circumstances.
I instantly warmed to the narrator, Standish Treadwill, and his voice is one of those that echoes in your mind long after the story ends. He's someone who doesn't do well at school and is underestimated because of this, when in fact he possesses a singular intelligence and originality - a dangerous trait in an oppressive state where conformity to the norm and received thinking is tantamount to survival.
I love it when pictorial elements are included in fiction (if it's done well), and the doodles scattered through the pages really enhanced the reading experience by subtly echoing the story arc. That, along with the layout and the short chapters, tied in really well with Standish's character, as someone who can't read and interprets the world in more visual terms. So not only is it a good story - it's also a beautifully created book, and I'm very pleased that I got the hardcover edition, because I think this one is a classic to be treasured and shared with friends for years to come.

I am reviewing this book, not because it is controversial, but because I think it has been over-hyped in a way that is misleading and potentially damaging. I blame the publisher for mis-positioning it, for suggesting it is something that it can never be: a children's book.

Maggot Moon may be praiseworthy for exposing the evils of a totalitarian regime, and for a fluent writing style, but you cannot dress-up torture, abuse and murder as entertainment and call it children's literature. Anyone who thinks this is appropriate reading for a child under the age of 16, needs to seriously question their judgment. Maybe this book has a place among university reading lists, but not in a secondary school among young impressionable children.

I believe that the subject matter of the book would be more acceptable if it had been described in a factual account, rather than graphic fiction that leaves nothing to the imagination. I don't enjoy reading about human suffering for entertainment. Perhaps contemporary TV and cinema have sensitised us to the point where violence has lost its power to shock us, but that should not blind us to its potential to normalise violence for future generations.

I am not an old fart, just a parent who wants the best for his kids. I fully accept that we cannot wrap up our children in cotton wool, or hide the truth from them, but we can at least protect them from the horrors of human nature. until they have developed the maturity to understand it.

I have just finished reading this book due to the Carnegie Shadowing event, otherwise I wouldn't have read it at all because of the cover.The blurb makes the book seem fantastic and the cover like it is designed for young kids.It is not at all. I am in my teens and frankly I found this book disturbing.It is slightly confusing and it took too long to get into the plot. It swears multiple times in the book, it is very coarse language. Towards the end it gets quite good, they have their plan to bring the Motherland down and just as it starts to get good- it ends. I would not reccomend this book to any children under 13 or 14.