The Shadow of the Red Moon By: Walter Dean Myers

This is a High Point fantasy book from Scholastic. The story line involves a futuristic world that exists in the aftermath of a meteor strike. The world has been devastated by this event and the survivors have endured great hardships. Heavy layers of dust have settled over everything and because the sun was blocked by all the dust, it is dark and cold. There are two main tribes, the Fins and the Okalians. The Fins are all under the age of 18 due to a plague that has wiped out the adults. The Okalians live in a city surrounded by a crystal wall. The wall focuses what little warmth there is from the sun so that growing food is possible. It also keeps out the dust as well as the Fins. The Okalians believe that if they allow the Fins into Crystal City the plague would come with them and wipe out all of the Okalians adults. As the story begins the Fins are preparing to attack Crystal City. The Okalians are certain that if the Fins are successful in breaking through the wall it will mean the end of their civilization. Because of this fear the adults have decided to send children (because they are immune to the plague) in search of the ancient land. In this way they hope to reestablish their civilization away from the Fins. The adventure involves the trials and adventures faced by three of the children. As a fan of fantasy I was intrigued and interested to read this novel. As a teacher I was excited because the high point series is a high interest, low reading level series. I was hoping to find a fantasy that would appeal to kids who are several levels below their grade level in reading. This is a difficult task. There are few options for that population of students that do not patronize them or simply bore them to tears. I am also completely opposed to adapted works. I feel that changing great literature in that way is wrong. So as I began the book I was hopeful. Unfortunately my hopes were once again dashed. The book while not patronizing or necessarily boring was, in my opinion, poorly written. There was an obvious lack of attention to details in the story. For instance, the children were evidently sent out into this for boding wilderness with no supplies; no food, water, change of clothes, tents, matches or anything else that would be necessary to survive. The children were evidently sent out as individuals not in groups. The three main characters met by coincidence. The children do not even have a map. their only guidance is a book they all memorized that was supposed to tell them the way to the ancient land. The lack of detail extended to the society of both the Fins and the Okalians. There is no mention of friendships or school. We get only tiny glimpses into the make up of the each society. This lack of detail made the book flat for me. It was hard to connect the story to personal beliefs or experiences because as the reader we simply were not given enough to work with. I believe the author had good intentions. The themes in the story are important ones. The traditional themes of man against nature, man against man and man against self are all present. However, I think this is the root of the problem. The author tries to attack to main story lines all at once and therefore gives none of them the appropriate attention. The struggle of the children in the wilderness could have been good with more attention. The idea of racism and its effects on society as a whole might have been a valuable lesson. The main characters inner struggles of doubt and fear would also have been fine if there was more emphasis placed on those ideas. Sadly, all we get is a taste of each one. As a whole some students may enjoy this futuristic look at the world. However, as an example of quality literature it does not pass this reader's test.