Hunting the Man in the Moon

Men have just landed on the moon as David Jones starts upon his first year as a pupil at Croesdy Comprehensive School. The bullies who pick on him learn about his secret fears in order to make his life a misery. They picture themselves as astronauts in pursuit of David whom they link with the isolated man in the moon whose sea of tranquillity has been disturbed by the moon landing. ~Publisher: Y Lolfa

This is a compelling novel about the struggles of a young lad against a gang of bullies, who plague his life throughout a three month period. It is set in 1969, providing the author with a timeframe when people reared and butchered their own Christmas geese; David is given the job of caring for their goose and, inevitably, grows deeply attached to his new pet. However, aside from this story strand, 1969 is not evoked very strongly. Mention is made of the moon landings, and the back cover connects David with the Man in the Moon, while his enemies are like the invading astronauts. This idea is referred to only at the end of the story; I suspect it played a larger part in earlier drafts, but much of this metaphor seems to have been edited out. In addition, a girl “turned up the music on her Walkman” in the park. Having been born in 1969, I’m fairly sure the world didn’t have Walkmans back then! (I’ve just looked it up – Walkmans were first sold in 1979.)



Despite this, the story is superb. It focuses closely on a small group of characters, all of whom we get to know well. The bullies are truly cruel, and there is no last minute revelation of their insecurities to explain their behaviour. David is shown to be weak and gentle, but is forced to change and considers some equally cruel strategies to survive his attackers. The inevitability of disaster hangs heavily over the narrative, and an ongoing theme of hunting is presented graphically through the novel: the fishing carried out by several of the lads, the night time “lamping” of the older boys, David’s determination to protect his goose from the predatory fox and, of course, the bullies’ continued baiting of David.



It is not a light-hearted tale, and the cover, which is cartoonish, belies the content. Though the book is advertised as suiting 10–12 year-olds, I think it might be more suitable for young teenagers. Well worth the read! ~Sally Owen @ www.gwales.com