Editorial Content for Moo: A Novel

When 12-year-old Reena suggests “Maine” as the family’s next home, she doesn’t expect her parents to actually listen. But they do, and Reena and her seven-year-old brother, Luke, find themselves in a small coastal town in Maine at the start of summer. Reena remarks later, “I’m glad I didn’t say Siberia.” At first they feel strange about their new lives --- they’ve left all their friends behind in the city, but they are allowed to ride their bikes all over town and explore on their own. Their summer takes an even more interesting turn when their parents volunteer them to help elderly, eccentric Mrs. Falala with her animals. Her ancient barn is home to a cat, a pig, a parrot, a snake (to eat the mice) and an ornery cow, Zora. 

At first Zora repulses Reena. She’s smelly, muddy, stubborn and mean. She does exactly the opposite of whatever Reena wants her to do. And she keeps butting Reena and Luke with her head and knocking them into the mud. But slowly Reena learns to empathize with Zora. She and Luke decide that Zora must be lonely, and they recruit some teenagers from a nearby farm to help them get Zora a friend. The teens, Beat and Zep, are working on their own project --- preparing to show their Belted Galloway cows, or Belties, at the county fair. As Reena gets to know Beat and Zep she admires their relationship with their cows more and more, and decides that she’d like to show Zora at the fair. But it’s going to take a lot of work to get stubborn Zora --- that Zora! --- ready for the fair.

"Written in free verse in Reena’s spunky, easy-going voice, MOO is a delightful and quick read. [Creech] treats child characters as full people…and they stand out among the adult characters as vibrant, evolving beings."

Mrs. Falala’s no picnic either. Eternally grouchy and seemingly ungrateful for their help, she is not Reena and Luke’s first choice of companion. But gradually they begin to see another part of Mrs. Falala --- one that she hides from the rest of the world. She plays the flute beautifully and asks Luke to teach her how to draw. Just as Reena draws Zora out of her solitude, the children coax Mrs. Falala into their world. 

Written in free verse in Reena’s spunky, easy-going voice, MOO is a delightful and quick read. Creech has used a free-flowing form of poetry that meanders along the page, sometimes stretching out words and trailing them down an entire page in the style of e.e. cummings. Young readers will appreciate this unusual form; it’s a nice break from prose that invites the reader in and doesn’t boldly declare itself to be poetry. Instead, MOO will introduce young readers to poetry through a back door. Creech is essentially just playing with words and relishing the fun of language, an excellent example for both child and adult readers. The verse form also helps move the plot along quickly, forcing bare-bones dialogue and description. 

As in her other novels, Creech has excelled with her character development. Reena and Luke are fully fleshed-out people with their own specific quirks and motives. Also, like Creech’s other main characters, Reena experiences a change in perspective over the course of the book. This is where Creech truly shines; she always treats child characters as full people, never stock figures, and they stand out among the adult characters as vibrant, evolving beings. Most of Creech’s characters change their minds about some important part of their lives over the course of the book, and this is unusual in children’s literature. Many children’s books depict a quest or journey, or a huge event in the main character’s life. With MOO, Creech acknowledges the fact that an unlikely friendship with an elderly woman --- and an ornery cow --- is all the drama a children’s book needs in order to shine.