Literary Devices in Moon Over Manifest
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Don't just gloss this one over. After all, the setting is basically the most important aspect of Moon Over Manifest. How do we know? (1) It's historical fiction. (Check out "Genre" for more.) That...
Narrator Point of View
Oh, boy. Are you really ready for this? Moon Over Manifest is told from approximately 476 different points of view. Well, okay, more like four. But still. It's nuts.Let's take a look:Abilene's part...
Genre
Moon Over Manifest is falls right smack dab in the historical fiction genre: it's set in the past (1936 and 1918), and it puts fictional characters against a real historical background. The end.But...
Tone
You know what's really hard? Telling a story about death and pain, cons and spies—and still making the town where it all goes down seem cozy and friendly anyway. The tone in Moon Over Manifest re...
Writing Style
Did you ever do that awesomely fun project in kindergarten where you weave different-colored strips of construction paper together to make a placemat? Well, that's the way Moon Over Manifest is put...
What's Up With the Title?
Moon Over Manifest seems like kind of a weird title for this book—until you get to Abilene's first night at Shady's place. Her dad is in Des Moines, and she asks Shady how far away that is from M...
What's Up With the Ending?
Our very last glimpse of Manifest comes in one of Hattie Mae's newspaper articles. But this time, she's signing off for good, and announcing her replacement: Abilene Tucker. Not only has Abilene ce...
Tough-o-Meter
Even though there are a bajillion different narrators in this book, they're all old-timey, small-town folk who use a pretty simple language. And yes, their storylines are constantly weaving through...
Plot Analysis
Meet the Cast. Oh, And Meet This Other Cast, Too.The exposition takes a while in Moon Over Manifest, and it's no wonder. We have to be introduced first to Abilene and the inhabitants of 1936 Mani...
Trivia
Clare Vanderpool's daughter, Grace, writes her own blog on her mom's website: Gracie Mae's News Auxiliary. How cool is that?Think rock stars are divas? Clare Vanderpool likes to have a box of choco...
Steaminess Rating
Nothing hot and heavy here, Shmoopers.
Allusions
Herman Melville, Moby Dick (5.22-25), (38.39), (42.12), (42.30) The Bible (25.72), (27.16)You'd think, in a work of historical fiction, that there'd be a few more references to real historical peop...