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Book Presentation
Lucy Ellis
OVERVIEW
Overview
The blurb
She moved to New Jersey where she taught at a Private High School.
She got a degree in Philosophy and Literature. In 2003 she went to the University of Warwick and got a master in creative writing.
Over the years she has written many young adult books – seven in total
She was born in 1981 and grew up in Dublin.
She then went on to study at the University of Cambridge to become an English and drama teacher.
PICTURES
She co-wrote a book with her husband John Dominic called ‘Resurrecting Easter- How the West Lost and the East Kept the Original Easter Vision’
She won the CILIP Carnegie Medal as well as the YA Book Prize, the CBI Book of the Year award and the CLiPPA Poetry Award for her novel, One.
Storyline
Plot
Joseph Moon used to live in Arlington in Virginia with his mother,older brother Edward,sister Angela and father however, their dad brutally got hit in the head and got killed when the children were very young.Their mother now lives alone because she abuses alcohol.She regularly neglected them at home.
Ten years ago Ed was wrongly accused of murdering a policeman when he was out one night. One thing led to another and he ended up on Death Row in Texas.
Joe's mother left them after he was sent to prison. Their Aunt Karen stepped in however she did not care about her niece and nephews.
Over the summer of Joe's seventeenth birthday Ed is given his execution date (18th of August)
After previously receiving letters from his older brother, Joe decides to visit him one last time against his aunt's will. They have very little money to spare however Joe's sister Angela works long hours at her job.
Joe decides to venture to Wakeling in Texas for his summer vacation instead of going to a Track and Field Internship in New York with his friend Reed.
He moves into a run down apartment swarming with cockroaches, without clean water or electricity and pays $500 in rent.
To pay for this he needs a job. He walks into ' Bob's Diner ' in search of one. Her he meets Sue who is a mother-like figure to him and Nell the young waiter who lives in Wakeling due to her Dad's job. They offer him the job of a Delivery boy if he can fix the car. Joe spends his days working on the car under the sun and gets food from the diner.
In the evenings he hangs out with Nell our the town.
Every afternoon Joe visits his brother .
The book is not completely written in chronological order. There frequently are flashbacks .
Therefore a timeline greatly helped me understand the story better.
When Joe was aged 9 their mom left for good and their aunt Karen moved in
Karen took Joe on a trip to New York . they light candles and prayed for their family because she believed ed was guilty
Their pet cat Coco falls ill and their mother tells them to kill it however Ed refuses. This begins their hostile relationship
Ed's execution date was set and their family visited him in Wakeling Texas
Ed got his driver's license and went for a ride in the car with Joe and Angela: after he dropped them home her went to 'get milk' and he never returned
Their Father died when he was hit in the back back of the head with a a billiard ball
Ed is sentenced to death and is moved to Wakeling Prison . Has not been visited for a decade
Karen came home from a trial and said she confirmed that Ed was guilty. their mother collapsed and cried on the floor. Joe was 8 years old
Ed had to go to Joe's Parent teacher meeting because their mother forgot. This caused Ed and their mother to fight
He was caught a few days later in a gas station and brought to jail. he was put on trial and found guilty fairly quickly after he admitted to killing Frank Pheelin
Joe (Aged 7) was on a school trip that day
Ed was out driving one night when he got pulled over by a cop. He was scared because he didn't have his documents as it was his aunts car.He fled. later that night the cop was killed by someone else.
Edward
Joseph
•He is talented at track and field – he should be in NYC at a Track and Field scholarship
•He is vulnerable and scared -he travelled all alone to Wakeling
•He fell in love with a co-worker Nell at Bob’s Diner
•He is very poor and slyly steals food, wallets etc from people.
• He is determined to get the car to work in the diner in order to get the job of their delivery boy. It is a long shot however he gives it a go.
• Angela and Ed worked hard shoveling drive ways to make money to pay for Joe's Christmas He would not let their cat Coco pass away even though their mother told them to throw her away.
• He was stubborn with his mother because she didn't care for her children
• He stole his aunt Karen's car
•He is learning law and Spanish in jail to pass the time
• He is isolated -he went nearly 10 years without anyone visiting
•As his execution date came closer he still had a sense of humour and stayed positive by making jokes
• he was hard-done-by and unlucky in so many ways
'' What I need is for Ed to say I have a fighting chance of becoming a decent man someday ''
Philip Miller
Nell's Father
prison master
Aunt Karen
Dad
died when children were young- he was hit by a billiard ball in the back of the neck
Nell
Joe
Angela
Ed
Sue
mother like figure
fixes car for Joe in secret
Al Mitchell
Ed's lawyer
volunteers to step in as charity
Frank Pheelin The police officer who was kill.
This is the person who Ed was charged with murder over
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'' 'Sure Mom' Angela said. Her tone like sunshine,as though Mom wasn't a complete screw-up ''
Parental Neglect
Sibling Love
Unfortunately for the Moon children their father passed away when then were very small however Joe explained that he rarely helped out much anyway.
Their mother also did not care for anyone else other that herself.
She argued with Ed and that was part of the reason he decided to run away.
Before Ed was scheduled to be executed his mother called him however she kept the TV on in the background.
It is likely that if the Moon parents were more invested and supportive of their children that the situation would have panned out differently .
'' It's been years since I've spoken to Mom. I don’t even know what her voice sounds like ''
The family were counting down the days to the 18th of August hoping that a miracle would happen.
They were counting on the trials that Eds lawyer Al Mitchell was attending to persuade the courts or postpone the date.
It costs up to 4 million to executed someone however it only costs 12.5% of that to give someone a life sentence
We have talked about this in Religion class last year but reading about it in a novel put it into a different perspective.
Everyone has different views about capital punishment however personally I believe it to be completely immoral.
This novel highlights just how unfair the justice system is (in America).
At one point in the novel Joe pleads with the prison master to do something about it however he claims he has no power and that he is just doing his job.
''The autopsy won't tell the truth-
which is that my brother was
murdered''
''Ed was charged as an adult 3 years before he was even allowed to buy beer''
‘‘I slide out into the heat of the afternoon hating with every inch of my bones the so-called free country I like in, the home of the brave.’’
The Moon family have unconditional love for eachother.
Joe forgave his Aunt for oppossing his decision to visit Ed when she came to Wakeling too.
The siblings also let go of all of their grudges against eachother.
Nell and Joe also made up and forgave eachotheer for their mistakes.
''WHAT CAN WE FORGIVE?
Anything.
If that's what we choose.''
'' Ask Strangers for handouts?
We could never get away with that-
begging for loans to be with our brother.
See, we aren't the people anyone pities.
No one cares whether or not we get to be
with Ed at the end,
how poor or hungry we are.
The cops widow though?
If she set up a crowd-funding account
to buy a dress you'd have people donating
big time. ''
In this very negative situation there were multiple very supportive people who helped
Because,
hell,
you never know
what you might find in the dark.