A review by caitlinxmartin
Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein

4.0

When I was growing up my mother was a storyteller. She told Southern folk tales and some Celtic tales, but most of all she loved to tell trickster stories, so I grew up with Raven and Jack and Anansi, and I was definitely curious to read this book because of its title and loose association with the story of how Raven stole the moon. I spent summers in Seattle from the time I was in the third grade and lived there for ten years (before the rain forced me to flee), so I like to keep my eye on Seattle writers. I haven't read Garth Stein's other book (The Art of Racing in the Rain), which I think of as the dog book because of the amazingly cute cover, but now I will.

This book draws on the folklore of the Tlingit people to frame its utterly modern tale of Jenna and her search for her son who she can't quite believe is dead. Escaping her safe Seattle life for Wrangell, Alaska, Jenna is forced to face her fears, her beliefs, her history, her choice, and her life as she struggles to put together the pieces of the ancient puzzle that may bring her son back to her.

Stein tells a great story here - it's a real page-turner with plenty of creepy, scary moments that will make you wonder what else may be out there. In a way this is a story that has been told over and over again and yet Stein tells it through fresh eyes that are never sentimental, never cliched, never simple. The characters are utterly believable as are their choices. I loved that Stein never took the easy way out. He held my attention and made me want to keep reading long past my bedtime.

Thanks to the nice people at Terra Communications for giving me an advance copy of this book to review.