From Goodreads,"Twelve-year-old Mallie's prospects are grim. In her mining town, Coal Top, boys leave school at 12 to work in the mines, and girls leave to work as servants for the rich people. Mallie can't stomach the idea of that kind of life, but what choice does she have? Especially when her family is counting on her wages to survive.
All that changes when Mallie is recruited for a dangerous competition in which daring (and ideally, orphaned children) train flying horses to battle the monsters that lurk beneath Coal Top. If she wins, she'll earn a fortune for her struggling family. If she fails . . . her family will have one less mouth to feed.
But the situation proves even more sinister than Mallie realizes, and in addition to fighting for her life, she finds herself uncovering a dangerous mystery at the heart of Coal Top's struggles-a mystery that the charismatic ringleader Mortimer Good will do anything to protect."
Goodreads - Over The Moon
I received this wonderful book free from Scholastic as a part of their Book Insider program. The program requires me to read the book provided and then give a thorough review in return. I received this book just a week before the review was due. I had to fly through this book in pretty much one sitting to get it finished and the review completed. That being said, it was an easy and enjoyable read.
This book follows the story of Mallie who lives in a town covered in dust. She unfortunately has to work for a rich family to earn money for her family. Mallie's goal is to take care of her parents and keep her little brother out of the coal mines. Everything is fine until the Guardians who watch over everything come swooping in to take her little brother. Mallie hides her brother to keep him safe, but she decides she must do something. Mallie decides to go to a secret meeting being held for wiry young fellers, even though she is a girl. Once there Mallie is told to fight the monsters in the woods to get a chance at riches untold. Mallie doesn't get a chance to fight them though, because a starbird saves her. Mallie is amazed at the flying horse and soon learns that he will take her on missions to make money and save everyone.
I loved the main character Mallie in this book. She was so strong willed and determined. Mallie had what I would call a difficult start. She was born without part of her right arm, which made her different from everyone else. Mallie had to work twice as hard to show that she could keep up and do the work. All throughout the book I was just in awe of Mallie's resilience and strength. She was constantly worried about her family and her friends. She also worked to save everyone and didn't worry about herself. I think I like characters like this because I sometimes see myself in them. I am a pretty hard headed person and determined once I set my mind to something. I also put others before myself too often that it is a fault of mine. Sometimes I feel like my being hard headed is a flaw because it sometimes gets me into trouble. But then I see lead characters like Mallie and they are portrayed as heroic. I love strong female leads because they are paving the way and showing that is is okay if you are determined and bossy. Like Mallie, those are the girls who get things done.
I don't really have any complaints about this book. There were a few grammatical errors concerning quotation marks, but other than that it was a great book. The storyline was intriguing with the dust covering the town and the magical starbirds that existed. It was definitely a book that I would enjoy seeing a sequel to. I give this 5 stars. I think this book would be great for young girls needing a strong female lead in a book. It is also a good reading level for kids in fourth to fifth grade.
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