Looking for a girl hero in a middle-grade novel with a heart to protect
the abused? You'll find her in THE TROUBLE WITH HALF A MOON's Dellie
(Putnam | 2011). The author,
Danette Vigilante,
grew up in Brooklyn's Red Hook housing project, and her "insider's"
mastery of the setting magically transports us there. We feel the blue
flakes on the playground benches, hear the sound of approaching sirens,
basketballs dribbling, and neighbors' fights, and smell the antiseptic
used by Dellie's mother to clean the elevators.
Vigilante's first person
tween voice effortlessly weaves in details about Puerto Rican culture
in this debut novel. Dellie honors her hard-working, loving, strict
parents, staying true to the culture's norms, even as she decides to
break a few rules for the sake of someone in need. Perfect read to illuminate for
tween girls that so-called "small" choices can make a difference in
their own lives and in their communities.
