Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read this book. My kids enjoyed it more than I did. I felt it moved a bit slow at times.

I usually really love novels in verse, but there was just something about this one I couldn't get into. Maybe I'll come back to it again, but for now I had to put it down.

Once in a Blue Moon was an adorable read I will definitely recommend to my students. Written in verse, this poetic story takes readers on a beautiful journey from trauma too healing. James Henry is a character that many of our students can relate to- someone who has been through a trauma and uses the love and wisdom of the people around him to work through it. Like most trauma, it is not easy to work through, but James Henry is supported by so many wonderful people. Students will love to read how each character unpeels and we find out who they are. This would be an excellent book for students in grades 3, 4, or 5.

James Henry hasn't left the house since he nearly drowned trying to save his mother (he succeeded but not without cost to them both) His twin Hattie Mae is encouraging him to return to the lighthouse where the accident took place during the blue moon to help him move through his grief. She needs him to be more like himself because she is planning on attending a school in Philadelphia and will no longer be there to protect him. For the first time in a long time, Hattie Mae is finding a new friend, Lottie, who may be the best thing ever to happen to the siblings since their mother's accident.

This is a powerful novel in verse that kept me up past my bedtime on more than one night as I eagerly followed James and Hattie's journey. It is well-paced, with a good balance of poetry to understandability for the middle graders reader. It captures James' feelings about the world, his relationship with his sister, what family means, and more. Highly recommend.

I like elements of this book. THe verse novel format doesn't work especially well. It's too easy to lose track of what is happening and how characters are interacting. With the bulk of the plot on trauma and coming of age issues, there isn't enough detail to properly track.

The first lines in this novel introduces readers to James Henry, the preteen protagonist laden with guilt over a traumatic event involving his mom, the neighborhood dog and the great outdoors. The aftermath of the event has left James Henry ‘frozen’, physically, mentally, and emotionally, or what James Henry calls, “my condition.” House bound, James Henry lives life through the lens of windowpanes, Hattie his twin sister’s experiences, letters to dad, and the star lit sky. At night, “On my back on top the roof laying on a blanket with my toes aimed at the sky, “is when peace finds James Henry. One day, a letter arrives from father inspiring James Henry to ‘step’ into his father’s shoes. Each step James Henry took, drew him closer to being unstuck or like the Pole Star. In that moment, with Sister whispering to him, “there’s a way out if you take it” and it only happens, once in a blue moon. With his twin nearby and North Carolina dirt under his feet… James Henry makes a decision. Sharon G. Flake writes this book, naming the main Character after her father, so, it is filled with the wit and aspirations embedded within the characters, that she grew up, experiencing in her familial relationships.

Once in a Blue Moon is a sad, sweet, middle grade novel written in verse. This is a relatively short book — almost a novelette or a lengthy short story; it covers only a few days in the characters’ lives. There is an element of mystery because the main character, James Henry, is traumatized to the point that he is not functioning, but the reader only learns through partial references and then finally at the end, what happened and why James Henry has been struggling. Because of the writing style and genre, this might not be a book a middle grader would pick up on their own; however, in a classroom setting this would be a good discussion book around a variety of themes.

Set in 1939 North Carolina, young James Henry suffers from severe anxiety about going outside, ever since loosing a much loved dog, and his mother in the sea. But a blue moon is coming, and he and his sister are convinced if he can just make it to the lighthouse during the blue moon and wish, then his heart will be healed and he can enjoy outside.
But the journey to the lighthouse is fraught with danger from local bullies, to storms in a dark forest, to white men in pickup trucks with rifles.
Themes of space exploration, grief, and connection weave together in a powerful narrative those who love verse novels wont want to miss.

I'm not usually a fan of verse, but I connected with this story. While I enjoyed it as an adult, I'm not sure how a middle grade reader would interpret it.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


A wonderful book of protry. It invokes emotions and feelings that will have you clutching your chest and wiping your eyes. The story is a hauntingly beautiful one. Thank God for sisters and family, that love and protect you.