Carrying Mason

August 15, 2011
Magnin (Bright's Pond series) writes her first book for younger readers with this middle-grade story of 13-year-old Luna, whose best friend Mason dies in a car accident. Luna decides to move in with Mason's mother, Ruby Day, who is mentally disabled, to lend a hand and to honor her friend. The plot thickens when Ruby Day's Aunt Sapphire shows up in a chauffeured limousine wearing a boa made of two dead foxes. Sapphire wants something, and it can't be good. Magnin's strengths are well displayed in this coming-of-age tale: her dialogue crackles, her wit relieves (Luna is affectionately called "Luna Fish" from a mishap with a tuna fish sandwich), and her sense of family dynamics that includes the usual verbal sparring among children is lively. Luna's parents seem a bit too Hallmark Channel good to be true, but that won't bother everyone. There's no supernatural world or dystopia hereâjust smalltown life, death, and growing up. Ages 8â12.

August 1, 2011

Initially, all 13-year-old Luna asks is that she be allowed to be a pall bearer for her best friend, Mason.

 But it quickly becomes clear that more will be needed if she is to truly serve her friend's memory. Mason's mother, Ruby Day, is variously called "feebleminded" and a "retard," harsh words for a woman who was able to successfully raise her son and who works every day bagging groceries. Unfortunately, Ruby Day isn't quite able to manage her own home, so Luna moves in with her to provide both companionship and a little supervision. Then a villainous woman, Aunt Sapphire, shows up in her chauffeur-driven limousine with plans to take Ruby back to the Mason Home for the Feebleminded, a place she doesn't want to go. Luna is just one girl trying to fight for rights that Ruby doesn't seem to have—unless she can get the townspeople to rally behind their cause. Gently, deliberately paced, Luna's first-person tale provides a fresh look at mental disabilities and the additional burden of negative attitudes. While Ruby's disability is apparent, this effort also celebrates her capabilities. Although the primary focus is Luna, her quirky father, supportive mother and boy-crazy older sister are also sufficiently developed to provide additional depth.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 15, 2011
Grades 5-8 When Luna Gleason's best friend Mason dies unexpectedly, she is compelled to care for his mentally disabled mother, Ruby Day. Luna is only 13, but as the middle child of six, she displays a capability beyond her years and a compassion grounded in her Christian faith, which convinces her parents to let her live with their grieving neighbor. The reader never meets Mason except as a memory, and although his presence dominates the start of this novel, he fades into the background as attention shifts to the relationship between Luna and Ruby Day. Their companionable existence is threatened by the arrival of Ruby Day's Aunt Sapphire, who wants to place her in a home for the feeble minded, an idea that Luna finds offensive and galvanizes her to protect the woman she has come to love. This is a tender book with a strong heroine, and it delivers a positive message about standing up for those who cannot advocate for themselves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)