Here is my latest review for School Library Journal:
I Am
Margaret Moore
By
Hannah Capin
Margaret
Moore, along with her friends Flor, Nisreen, and Rose, attend the Marshall
Summer Naval School every summer. They are inseparable friends until the summer
Margaret falls in love with a boy also attending Marshall. That summer
Margaret sneaks out of their dorm after curfew again and again to meet the boy
of her dreams. Towards the end of the summer, right before the Victory
Race, an incident occurs that pulls Margaret away from her friends, and she
isn’t even allowed to say good-bye. Margaret is back the following year
to tell her friends what happened, and in the meantime, the boy that she loved
drowns in the lake near the summer camp. Then her friends start to
disappear one at a time. What happened to Margaret and her boyfriend?
Where did her friends go? Could Margaret be a murderer? To find
these answers and gain a deeper understanding of Margaret’s plight, one will
need to read I am Margaret Moore by Hannah Capin.
This
story is a complex contemporary thriller with poetic undertones. The
insect motif at a summer camp seems quite normal as many summer camps usually
involve pesky insects. However, Ms. Capin is very deliberate in using the
mayfly and the dragonfly over and over in her story and even named the parts of
her book after the growth stages of these insects. Both the mayfly and
dragonfly live tragic lives which sets the tone for Margaret’s tragedy.
There are many times through the first half of the book that the author’s
purpose is undisclosed. Once Margaret’s circumstances have been revealed,
the readers might find themselves going back to the beginning of Margaret’s
story with a new perspective. Beautifully written and haunting, I Am
Margaret Moore will definitely appeal to those who enjoy a good mystery. Therefore,
this book is recommended for students in grades 9-12. It will be an enjoyable addition
to any library’s mystery/thriller collection.
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