The Owl & Moon Cafe

May 29, 2006
Mapson takes a break from her Bad Girl Creek series with this touching novel that chronicles the lives of four generations of women living under one roof. When sociology professor Mariah Moon loses her job, she and her Carl Sagan–loving genius 12-year-old daughter, Lindsay, move into the apartment shared by Mariah's hippie mom, Allegra, and staunchly Catholic grandmother, Bess. All four pitch in to run the family restaurant downstairs, where Mariah locks eyes with the charming Fergus Applecross, who's set to leave their California town of Pacific Grove and return to Scotland in a few months. Mariah takes a chance on him, to Allegra's delight and Lindsay's consternation. Allegra, meanwhile, is diagnosed with leukemia, but rediscovers the long-lost love of her life at the doctor's office. Lindsay, watching her grandmother struggle with both her illness and trying to cover the cost of medication, concocts a science project that involves growing marijuana (for medicinal applications, of course). Initially, the characters are pulled straight from central casting, but after a slow start, they become as complex and fascinating as the situations they find themselves in.

May 15, 2006
Mapson has moved on from her beloved Bad Girl Creek trilogy but only so far as the nearby town of Pacific Grove, where she introduces readers to Bess, Allegra, Mariah, and Lindsay, four generations of Moon women who are "bad girls" in their own right. After eight years as a college sociology professor, Mariah finds herself suddenly out of a job, and there's nowhere else for her and her 12-year-old genius daughter, Lindsay, to go but home to the funky restaurant owned by her mother, Allegra, and grandmother, Bess. She hopes the move will be temporary, but when Allegra is diagnosed with leukemia, Mariah and Lindsay soon discover that the concept of permanence has taken on a whole new meaning. For Lindsay, the stress of her grandmother's illness, her mother's unemployment, and a high-stakes scholastic competition turn out to be more than her psyche and body can bear. With her trademark style of combining humor with heartache, Mapson again excels at building a community of strong, empathic women.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)