Summer on the Moon

Book excerpt: A move from an impoverished tenement to an unfinished suburban development turns thirteen-year-old Socko’s world inside out It’s summer vacation, and Socko and his best friend Damien are hanging around the Kludge apartments, taking care to avoid the local gang members. When Socko’s great-grandfather suddenly offers to buy a house in the suburbs, Socko’s mom jumps at the chance to leave the bad neighborhood. Socko hates to leave Damien behind, but they pack up their few belongings and move to Moon Ridge Estates. Nothing there is even remotely what Socko had imagined—Moon Ridge is a lonely wasteland of half-finished houses. Socko tries to make the best of a bad situation, hopping on his skateboard to explore the empty streets that are now his private domain. Constructing new lives will involve taking some risks, but in time a ragtag community begins to rally around the struggling development. With humor and heart, Adrian Fogelin weaves a timely story of loyalty, family, community, and economic hardship.