Review: Ginny Moon

Summary: Ginny is a recently adopted teenager with autism. She has a new home, new parents, and a new last name.

Before Ginny arrived at her new house, she spent years living in danger with her birth-mother. Her world is a much better, safer place now, and everyone tells her that she should feel happy. But Ginny is stifled. Her voice is pushed down. Silenced. Bottled up for too long now. It’s ready to burst.

Ginny is desperate to get back to where she came from, back to what she left behind. Because something heartbreaking happened there—something that only Ginny knows—and nothing will stop her from going back to make it right. She’ll even get herself kidnapped.

Ginny Moon is an illuminating look at one girl’s journey to find her way home. In this stunning debut, Benjamin Ludwig gives a voice to the voiceless, reminding us that often we only hear those who speak the loudest, and there’s much to be learned by opening up our ears and our hearts. -- Park Row Books

I had heard some positive buzz about the novel GINNY MOON by Benjamin Ludwig; however, it wasn't until Adriana Trigiani recommended this book to me that I decided to give it a try. I love coming-of-age stories and GINNY MOON is definitely a unique one. This novel explores an autistic young girl's desire to find her birth mother, and I found it to be a terrific read.

Ginny is a 14 year old autistic girl who has been recently adopted by Maura and Brian, her forever parents, after living in foster homes for years. The first nine years of her life were pretty difficult -- Ginny lived in constant danger of being abused by her birth mother, but now Ginny seems to have the stability she needs. However, when Maura gives birth to a baby girl, Ginny's behavior becomes very erratic and Maura fears for the safety of her family.

Living with Ginny has never been particularly easy, but Maura and Brian did their very best. Ginny is not only autistic, but she is also deeply scarred from an incident from her childhood. the details are sketchy, but Ginny wants to know what happened to her "baby doll." According to Ginny, she took care of her "baby doll" and when the police arrived one day to her house, she stuffed the doll into a suitcase and never had the chance to go back and get it. Ginny is desperate to find her birth mother and the baby doll, and she's willing to go to extreme measures to find them... even it that means being kidnapped!

I actually read GINNY MOON while I was on vacation, and I have to say that I found it very entertaining. The novel was both funny and heartbreaking, and I am happy to say that it was eventually heartwarming too. This book is Mr. Ludwig's debut novel and he's definitely got some serious talent when it comes to storytelling and creating memorable characters. I should have known that Adriana wouldn't lead me wrong!

You can't help but fall a little bit in love with Ginny. She's a fantastic character and I think the author did a terrific job in bringing a 14 year old autistic girl to life. The story is told in her words and I was incredibly impressed with how realistic she seemed. Ginny experienced more in her 14 years than most people experience in a life-time. The author said that her was inspired to write about Ginny after he and his wife adopted an autistic young girl and he witnessed how much she wanted to return to the place she came from. It's evident to this reader that he is a pretty special guy... and he truly understands his characters.

One thing that surprised me a bit about this novel is how dark parts of it were. I can't express the horrors that Ginny faced as a young girl and how much they traumatized her. I found it to be extremely sad and more than a little disturbing. What amazed me about this novel though is how the author managed to incorporate so much humor into a depressing story. The book really did make me both laugh and cry, and I loved how the novel ended!

What I enjoyed most about this book, though, were the messages in the novel. As bad as Ginny's birth mother was, there was so much good in this story. Brian, her forever dad, was an incredibly patient and kind man... and Ginny was so lucky to have him. The novel really featured how fostering and adoption can save both parents' and kids' lives. In addition, I loved how this novel portrayed autism. I will admit that I had some preconceived notions that were shot... and I loved that! Finally, I loved how this story showed what can happen when a child has a supportive family.

Needless to say, I think GINNY MOON would make a terrific book club selection. There is a reading guide available with eleven interesting questions. Some of the themes you might want to explore include adoption, family, love, sacrifice, fear, obsession, abuse, and autism. I believe that Ginny is such an intriguing character and worthy of quite a bit of discussion.

Overall, I think fans of coming-of-age stories as well as readers who enjoy stories about dysfunctional families will enjoy GINNY MOON. Highly recommended!

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this novel.