Moonrise: Shortlisted for the YA Book Prize

Bought this book for my daughter to read for an English assignment. I'm sorry, but there's just nothing good about it. The subject of capital punishment is better covered in other books. The way this is written in prose is just annoying, and there is just nothing happy about it. It's a downhill ride of negativity and depression, I didn't see anything good from it.

This book is an easy read, cover to cover in less than 2 hours. Tragic story of a dysfunctional family and the glue that holds them together.

Wow. This book will pull you in and hold you hostage. Beautifully written, and devastating.If you are American, it’s about your country. If you are human, it’s about your species. Read it.

I was very moved by this book, by its tale of innocence, of guilt by association, of the bravery of a 17 year old boy in the face of unimaginable adversity... it made me laugh and it moved me to tears. Beautifully written and read in one sitting. Highly recommend

I've been meaning to read Moonrise for a while and I'm definitely kicking myself for not doing so sooner now. It turned out to be such a powerful read! Books completely written in verse can go both ways for me, but it definitely worked very well here. Moonrise is such a heartfelt and heartbreaking story with such a powerful message to boot... It makes you think about the death penalty and the horrifying consequences of having an innocent man on death row fighting for his life as his date is coming closer. It also makes you think of the impact on his family... And the writing style is used to perfection to portray these emotions. Seventeen year old Joe makes for the perfect main character and your heart will break for him as you get to know him and see him interact with his brother Ed, who is on death row. You get to learn both about the struggles of the family after Ed's conviction as well as Ed's struggles and how justice isn't always achieved. Make sure to have a box of tissues at hand just to be safe! Moonrise turned out to be a very powerful, emotional and tragic read, and the fact that it's completely written in verse only enhanced its impact for me.

I am feeling pretty lukewarm about this book at best. So the entire book is written in verse, which is just a disclaimer because you don’t find out until you actually start reading. While this provides brief, quick chapters, it also prevents any character development. There were a lot of awkward moments, minimal conversation, and overall it is just a sad story with a sad ending.Allow me to explain, while Joe is visiting his brother Ed in Texas who is on death row, he meets a girl named Nell. They have minimal conversation but he is drawn to her, and this whole sub-plot romance is uncomfortable. It’s not fluid, it doesn’t flow from the poetry, it’s just a distraction and an attempt to fluff a depressing story line. Descriptions of characters are non-existent, and descriptions of Ed’s surrounds are minimal at best. I was attempting to paint a picture in my head with essentially no descriptions to go on. Which brings me to the only reason I kept reading was because I wanted to know if Ed was actually going to die or not.The title, Moonrise, I feel does not fit the story line at all, it is not part of a critical line in the story or significant to the story in any way. It felt very random, sort of like how quickly the book wrapped up. I guess what I am saying is that the story is boring, sad and meh. While it was most certainly a quick read, I didn’t love or connect with these characters, and I found the plot boring and far too weak to susta

I'm not a huge fan of poetry or novels in verse, but sometimes you read them and they just stick. Moonrise is one of those books. It will tug at your heart strings and make you hurt for the bad guy. This book does all that and more. Joe's brother Ed is on deathrow. Joe has exhausted all his resources to go in see his brother in his final days as his lawyer fights to slow down his execution.Ed swears he is innocent, so they must do everything they can to get everyone to change their mind about him and give them a chance. I have to be honest, when I first added this I did it because of the place where it's set. I heard "death row" in Texas and I immediately thought of Huntsville, Texas, where I attended college. But instead it was set in Wakeling, a place very much like Huntsville. (Outside of the college ring) People only go there if they have someone "at the farm." That's definitely how it is at Huntsville too, so I could really see that happening. It made the story feel a bit more real. And that was welcoming, because I don't always connect to a story in verse because it doesn't have as much back story or depth as a regular story. It made me feel more connected to the story. However, as usual I felt like I didn't really connect with this story. I knew the emotion was there, but it's hard for me to really CONNECT with characters in a book told in verse. It's really a "it's not you, it's me," type of thing. I'm sure others may have read this and cried their eyes out, but I read it and barely felt sorry for the guy. (But then again, he didn't do a really great job at convincing me that he didn't do it, jus that they didn't have enough evidence to prove he did......) I don't want to sound heartless, because I didget sad for him, but normally with a plot like this I would feel SOMETHING for the characters. Novels in verse and me just don't get along. Some I connect with, others not so much. This one is the perfect blend for me. If you love novels in verse and poetry, give this one a try!

Absolutely heartbreaking. A very powerful story about injustice that is beautifully told. It will rip your heart out and it had me in floods of tears. If you've ever experienced the pain of being in a horrible situation beyond your control and having to accept it and the pain of loss this will trigger you, as it did me. But I feel it's an important story that should be told and read and a topic we need to think deeply about in this world.

Raw, heartbreaking and yet incredibly touching. This book shows us a life that is perhaps more sinned against than sinning, it deals with the cruelty of hope and considers how we can both reach out and hold back in order to protect those we care about. Dealing with death row, this was never going to be a light-hearted read but it is powerfully written, utterly absorbing and makes you reflect on the society that we live in.

Completely blew me away. Beautifully written. Characters you want to reach out to and hug, and an ending you wish could be different. But if it were, the heartbreaking truth of this story would be lost.Be prepared to cry.

This was recommended to my daughter she didnt love it, said it was a bit weird as the story jumped around a lot

Beautiful, moving lyrical poem about a teen whose brother is on death row. This moved me to tears.