Carrying Mason
Written by Joyce Magnin
Young people enjoy reading about people their own age facing and conquering difficulties. Carrying Mason will be of interest to those at the sixth grade reading level. This story requires good comprehension at the sixth grade level, but is not a strenuous read for that age.
Luna is thirteen years old and lives with her parents, three sisters, and a brother in a small town. It’s a full house, but, for the most part, a happy one. Until, that is, Luna’s best friend Mason dies when hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Luna and Mason had a very special bond. It affects the whole town, but Luna more than anyone. Anyone except Mason’s mother, Ruby Day. Mason had taken such good care of his mother. She is somewhat developmentally delayed and, while some are cruel to her, many in the town look out for her. But she needs more than that. When Luna visits Ruby Day, she finds mildewed clothes in the washer and dirty dishes in the sink and realizes Ruby Day hasn’t bathed in too long. Luna decides it is up to her to take care of Ruby Day. She convinces her parents to let her move in with Ruby Day and promises she will keep up with her school work and will go to college when the time comes. She does remarkably well in her new role, but is faced with her greatest challenge when a relative shows up and insists she should take Ruby Day away. Luna is in for the fight of her life.
Young people will cheer for Luna and appreciate the difficulty of her situation. Most will imagine what it is like to take on such responsibility and will be interested in the idea of living away from their family. They will learn the kind of strength of character it takes for such a task and will also learn they have that kind of strength within themselves. There are a lot of discussion starters in this book. It is more of a girl’s book than a boy’s book, but many boys will probably like this one. The author’s page can be found at http://joycemagnin.blogspot.com/.
Title: Carrying Mason- Author: Joyce Magnin
- Publisher: Zonderkidz, 2012
- Reviewer: Rosi Hollinbeck
- Paperback: 176 pages
- ISBN: 978-0-310-72682-1
- Genre: Fiction, Coming of Age
- Lexile Score: 810
