I so enjoyed reading this book, which had me smiling and even chuckling in various places throughout this fun story. The author's writing style and character development of the wonderful Mrs. Plansky made this a fully engaging read from beginning to end. Through her many adventures, some harrowing and others wonderful, I was drawn in to her experiences and how she got through them. Mrs. Plansky definitely has moxie!

Toward the end of the book there was one brief page or two which made me first think that the ending might be too exaggerated or rushed but as I read on, the story's ending all came together and I decided that it was just right.

I'm hoping that additional books featuring Mrs. Plansky or possibly some of the other characters in the book could spin off new stories.

Having had a family history rampant with mental health issues myself, I was especially interested in reading about the perceptions of bipolar disorder both from the person who has lived with it, and from the points of view of others who loved, couldn't tolerate, and/or treated Dr. Perry Baird. Mimi Baird did a great job in presenting Perry Baird's accounts of his stays at several different mental hospitals, especially gripping because he was trying to study himself in the process during a time when treatments were barbaric at best. His writings are interspersed with inpatient treatment notes from the hospitals where he had been confined. These different accounts made me curious- his being colored by his disease, and the hospitals perhaps colored by agenda. I suppose that the truth lies somewhere in between, which I believe was what the author was ferreting out.

I know firsthand about the extreme difficulty of living with a family member who has a serious mental illness, and could relate to those who cared about Dr. Baird, but who also became unable to cope with the destruction left in his path. It is a sad, complicated, and real problem that families face, and the author did a marvelous job of integrating all of these facets into a short and highly readable book. There are many good discussion points in He Wanted the Moon, which would make it an excellent book club pick.

Unlike some of the other readers who have reviewed The Wonders, I happened to really enjoy this unusual book. I found the main characters interesting and engaging and their relationships important, and I was happily willing to be pulled into the fantastical storyline of the book. The ending felt somewhat rushed to me, but not so much so that I would be willing to pan the book. I would have liked to have had a little more of a lead in to the ending, and perhaps an epilogue to develop more fully the period of time after their lives all changed.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story that pulls in some fantasy into our world. The circus theme will also appeal to readers of Water for Elephants, or those with connections to animals who have been displayed for people in zoos or compounds, such as Pi's character in Life of Pi.