Me (Moth) by Amber McBride

McBride, Amber. Me (Moth). MacMillan Publishing Group LLC, 2021. ISBN 978125078032

Plot

Granddaughter of a hoodo root worker, book engages with the themes of grief, connection to ancestry and first love. Moth and her family were involved in a car accident where they were  killed, except for Moth (later there is an interesting twist of events that show a different reality). Moth lives with her aunt who is grappling with alcoholism. She meets a classmate who automatically connects with and together engage in an adventure where they learn, more about their ancestors.  

Critical Evaluation 

Moth has lost her family in an accident. Though she lives with her aunt, she feels alone and displaced.
She meets a boy who is also in search of his ancestry. His quest is dirven by his desire to learn about the root of his depression. Moth is caught up in helping him and feels tied to his journey. Their road trip is one where they will learn about their past and build a stronger relationship to each other and the hopes to learn more about themselves. Themes of love, looking for meaning in one's journey looking at the history in one's family, to grief.

The characters do hold depth, yet it was difficult to understand that these teens were engaged in a roadtip at their age. I needed more information how they got the money to engage in this endeavor. There felt that there was a lot of missing information. There was a twist when later in the story one learns that Moth indeed is from another dimension. This fact would have been great to have gotten a sense that this would be the case, and not in a blow later on. This could have been more believable. I understood this was a paranormal theme, and potentially connected to Sani's mental health issues and hoodoo ritual also a theme that we learn early this would be the case.

It is a sweet story of first love, and the ways that our memories and our roots steer us through the world. 

Reader's Annotation 

A teen girl (granddaughter of a hoodoworker) grieving the death of her family, meets a boy and together discover more about their ancestry as they engage on a roadtrip to the West together.

Author Information

Was born in Germany spending the first 18 years of her life in different states. She moved to Charlottesville in 2018. She is a poet and her poetry has been published in various literary magazines including The Cincinnati Review, The Rumpus, ProvinceTown Arts and others. Is currently a professor of English at the University of Virginia. She holds an MFA in poetry from Emerson College and . She lives in Virginia with her dog and Me (Moth) was her debut YA novel.

Source: https://amber-mcbride.com/

Genre

Fantasy. Romance. In Verse. Mystery. Magical Realism. Paranormal. 

BookTalking Ideas

Conversation between Sani and Moth when they are in their roundtrip and his comment on who can be owner's of the land. Specifically the relationship to land that he refers to.

"There are many forts with plaques thanking settlers for pushing west, for goldrushing and eating the land.

Reading Level/Age Interest

Age range: 12-17

Challenge Issues

Social Justice. Mental Health. Critique of Manifest Destiny. If the book is challenged, I will connect with the Library of Bill of Rights and Los Angeles County Library Collections Policy.

Why I Included This Book in Collections 

The main character's backgrounds (Black and Native American) , history of the US that we don't' really learn about, the in verse nature of it and how important there is a lot more of these books in the access of our young people.