What readers think of Ginny Moon, plus links to write your own review.

I wasn't prepared to like this book or the main character. I thought it was going to be a very different type of book. The author brings the reader into Ginny's world as the story develops. I could empathize with all of the characters in her life and begin to understand how Ginny has invented ways to cope with the life she has been dealt. I found myself rooting for her dysfunctional mother despite what had gone before because the deep ties of family were apparent. I ended up loving the book and came away wiser having read Ginny's story.

Ginny Moon, fourteen years old with autism, is trying to make sense of her world and with her as the narrator we are on a wild adventure following in her footsteps, watching how her mind works in navigating the zigzag path of her life. From the very first moment of this roller coaster of confusion and her desire to be reunited with her birth mother we want her to succeed. Once you understand the parameters of the journey Ginny is on, there is no way you can put this book down until reaching its culmination. Though at times you feel her fear and desperation, you hang in there with her. She holds our attention, our empathy and compassion as we cheer her through the obstacles that confound reaching her goal. And maybe she’s not the only one who doesn’t understand what’s going on.

I absolutely loved this book and could not turn the pages fast enough. The newspaper review which compares this book to The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time caught my attention since I still remember reading that book many years ago. However, this book's narrator is more appealing. However, I must admit that I felt the frustration of the teachers and adoptive parents as the formerly abused, autistic fourteen-year-old made choices that continued to mess up her life. Anyone who has ever had a friend in an abusive situation or interacted on a regular basis with children or young teens with autism or other mental issues will immediately know that the characterization of Ginny rings true. I like the fact that this book tells a fast-paced story with some unsavory characters without having to use a plethora of curse words. I like to be able to recommend books to teenagers as well as adults, and with some other books, the pages of "T.M.I." intimate details sometimes ruined that opportunity. The reader will feel suspense, frustration with a victim of abuse who seems to choose to hinder her own progress, and some moments of restrained anger (much like the teachers and adoptive parents)
I highly recommend this unique book and think it would work well with book clubs as well as anyone just wanting an interesting story. I also hope this book will be made into a movie some day, but I want the movie to follow the book exactly.

When you decide to read the novel, “Ginny Moon”, by Author Benjamin Ludwig, just be prepared for an emotional and heartbreaking journey. Ginny Moon might be considered to be quirky and strange for a teenager. Ginny comes from a physically and mentally abusive home, and has been in two foster homes, and now is in “Forever”home with her “Forever Mom” and “Forever Dad”. The biggest challenge of all is that Ginny Moon is Autistic, and her brain is wired differently from those people around her. What is so heartbreaking is Ginny tries to communicate to the adults in her world. She has learned their rules with difficulty.

It is must be so frustrating for Ginny to explain why her Baby Doll is so important. Her adoptive parents response to Ginny is that they will get a new one. Ginny is obsessive about eating her 9 grapes in the morning, and had to follow a predictable routine. Ginny loves Michael Jackson, and plays sports. Most important of all to Ginny is to get her Baby doll back from her abusive mother. Ginny is strong-willed and is determined if it means being kidnapped, she has to get her Baby doll back.

Kudos to Author Benjamin Ludwig for bringing compassion and understanding of an autistic child to light for us to read. The genre of this story is Fiction, and has some realistic feel. How would any child react to being in an abusive situation? The adults in Ginny’s life are confused, and seem to have problems in coping with Ginny’s behavior, and communicating with her.

Ginny’s Forever Mother is expecting a baby, and this creates a new set of problems for the parents as well as Ginny. Of course, my favorite character is Ginny. I appreciate that the author mentions Autism, the spectrum, and disabilities, the importance of family support, friends, and therapy. I would recommend this charming, endearing, and captivating novel for those readers who enjoy an emotional story.

I received a copy of this story for my honest review.

Ginny Moon is now fourteen years old but when she was nine she was removed from her neglectful, abusive and drug-addicted mother, Gloria, as well as the threats posed by a succession of her mother’s violent boyfriends. Following this traumatic experience she was placed in a number of different foster and “forever” homes but always had to be moved on, either because she couldn’t settle or because her carers couldn’t cope with her behaviour. However, she is now living in what everyone hopes will be her final “forever home”, with “forever parents” Maura and Brian, who want to love and support her as she grows up. Playing flute in the school band, a keen basket-ball player and a huge fan of Michael Jackson, Ginny may seem like any ordinary teenager; however, she is also autistic, with all the challenges that this brings.
When Maura becomes pregnant it is suggested that Ginny should care for a plastic electronic “baby”, as a way of preparing her for the new arrival. However, the “baby’s” inconsolable crying reminds her of her Baby Doll, whom she had had to leave behind, in a suitcase under the bed, when she was removed from Gloria. Since then she has always wanted to be able to rescue Baby Doll because she knows her mother is incapable of looking after her. As she becomes determinedly focused on finally achieving this, her developing relationship with Maura and Brian is badly affected and her obsession threatens their future as a family. She seems prepared to do anything – be deceitful, lie and steal – to achieve her goal and they cannot understand why she would want to return to a life which had held such horrors for her, just in order to rescue a doll. Their fragile relationship is increasingly threatened when she unexpectedly makes contact with Gloria and determines to plan her own kidnapping by her mother, just in order to rescue Baby Doll.
Within a few pages of this remarkable novel I found that the literal-minded, determined, inventive and creative Ginny Moon had captivated me! Her powerful voice felt as insistent as her need to find a resolution to her past losses, enabling me to enter into the world of someone whose thought-processes are different from my own. She made me acutely aware of how often we rely on other people being able to understand idioms, conversational “shortcuts” etc as aids to easy communication and therefore how isolating it is for someone who is unable to tune in to these speech patterns. Also, of how we can often make communication more difficult by asking more than one question at the same time – Ginny becomes totally confused unless asked just one question and consequently feels unable to answer because she doesn’t know which question to respond to! Equally, it highlighted how difficult it is to make any sort of meaningful contact when we aren’t able to understand people who are communicating in a different way.
Many of the interactions between Ginny and the various characters in this story failed because of these failures of understanding; Ginny was certainly literal-minded, but at times the adults around her were just as likely to take some of the things she said in an equally narrow, literal way. So, one of the strongest messages which came through from this story is how we all need to try much harder to really listen to the “music behind the words”, to learn to adapt our behaviour when communication is breaking down, rather than just to carry on in familiar ways, hoping that repetition will achieve the desired response!
I thought that the author created authentic voices for each of his characters, not just for Ginny, and his convincing story-telling rapidly drew me into the confusing world they were all experiencing. I have had a lot of experience of placing children with adoptive and foster families and thought that he brought alive, in an entirely credible way, the very real struggles Ginny’s adoptive parents faced when they were confronted with Ginny’s apparent rejection of the loving and caring they were offering her. There was no sugary sentimentality in his descriptions; he didn’t portray them as saintly do-gooders, but as people who, even though they had the best of intentions, sometimes got things wrong. There were times when I felt intensely fearful for Ginny as she exposed herself to dangers she didn’t fully understand. Equally, there were moments when I felt as frustrated with her, and her potentially self-destructive behaviour as I did with her adoptive parents’ increasing irritation and despair in their dealings with her – it felt like being on an emotional roller-coaster which just wouldn’t stop!
I was reminded me of how full of admiration I feel for the resilience and commitment of adoptive and foster parents who are prepared to do all they can to ensure a better future for children who need their care. Of how strong they need to be to understand a child’s emotional links with even the most abusive and brutal birth parents, and of how difficult it must be for them to be able to put aside their own feelings of vulnerability in the face of challenging behaviour in order to respond to a child’s greater emotional fragility. I thought that the author did a good job in making it clear that these families need reliable help and support in order to enable them to cope with the extraordinary challenges they face.
Comparisons with Christopher, the main character in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, are difficult to avoid and, as I had enjoyed that book so much, I feared that Ginny’s voice might not feel so convincing. However, these initial fears were soon dispelled as I became aware that, if anything, I felt much more drawn into the inner-workings of Ginny’s mind and the lasting impact her past experiences had had on her. I know that she will remain vivid in my memory for a very long time – she certainly lives up to the “original” in the book’s title!
This was a haunting and unforgettable book to read and would be a wonderful choice for reading groups as there are so many topics for discussion and debate.

Ginny will tug at your heart. What a wonderful depiction and authentic feel seeing the world through an autistic young lady. You are immersed in Ginny's world - seeing, feeling and hearing in her special way as well as her frustrations. Touching story, rocking your emotions. Ludwig crafted a real gem.