Abilene Tucker, daughter of a principled hobo and unnamed mother, rides the rails in Depression era middle America and tries to piece together her father's past in the charming community of Manifest. A wonderfully written story, with a compelling setting, I cannot fault the writing or the amazing historical detail, or the lovable town of Manifest. BUT I do not think it is the kind of a book most students would gravitate towards. For ESL students, the diction is too difficult, in fact, most young students I know would be very frustrated with Moon Over Manifest. For literary merit, it deserves the Newbery, but I would probably not recommend to most students.