ME AND THE MISSOURI MOON

A new friendship flourishes even as a hit-and-run accident threatens to pull it apart in Stewart’s book for young readers.

Fifth-grader Scarlet Burnes is in the car with her father, who has already had a few run-ins with the law, when he hits a bicyclist and drives off, threatening Scarlet and swearing her to secrecy. A couple of days later, as school starts, Scarlet meets Caitlin “Cricket” Cooper, a new student, and they become fast friends. The girls come from different worlds—Cricket is from an upper-class family with a loving mother and father, while lower-class Scarlet has a caring mother but also an out-of-work father who is abusive when he drinks. Soon, Scarlet finds out it’s Cricket’s brother, Malcolm, who her father hit, and Scarlet continues to keep her father’s secret throughout much of the story. Scarlet and Cricket befriend Henry, the school bully. Everything comes to a head on the night of a school project when Scarlet gives a speech about the poet Maya Angelou: “Whenever Maya asked her Arkansas grandma for guidance or to help her with a problem, she’d always tell Maya to do the right thing. And that turned into advice that Maya lived by her whole life,” Scarlet says. Will Scarlet do the right thing? Stewart has created a memorable and spunky main character in the young, redheaded Scarlet Burnes. A former grade school teacher, the author strikes a great balance between the joyous story of Scarlet and Cricket discovering their friendship and the more serious subjects of bullying, lying, and covering up a crime. (There are many lessons imparted by the narrative, but none of them come off as condescending.) Stewart’s pacing is pitch-perfect as the book switches back and forth between the two girls acting like young kids and the horrendous crime at the center of the story. Young readers will most likely revel in the drama, rooting for Scarlet and Cricket all along the way. This is a charming book—here’s hoping it’s only the beginning of Scarlet’s and Cricket’s adventures together.

A tale of friendship that is funny, dramatic, and teaches the best kinds of lessons.