Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest
Grades 6-8

Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.
Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”
Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.

Activity One

A storyboard is a series of pictures that tell about an important event in a story. A
storyboard can tell the story of only one scene – or the entire novel.
Complete six different pictures illustrating the events described in the first few chapters of Moon Over Manifest, or any other part of the book that you want to tell about. If you would like to do a storyboard for the whole novel, that is okay as well. Make sure you take your time on your drawings to tell us as much about the book as you can.

Activity Two

With two or three other students prepare to participate in a television talk show featuring characters from Moon Over Manifest. Choose an interesting character from the book (it doesn’t necessarily have to be Abilene). Prepare about a half-dozen questions to ask and possible answers. Record your talk show. Create a host that is fun to watch and interesting. You can model him/her after someone who is already on TV, or you can come up with someone new. Remember, SIX questions and interesting answers for this interview.

Activity Three

Abilene noticed a grave marker under a sycamore tree near Billy Clayton’s house. As we continued to read about Abilene’s
adventures, we notice a number of trees and plants mentioned in the story (i.e. Fort Treeconderoga). The author makes mention of sycamore trees, walnut, cottonwood and maple trees, and plants such as ivy, lilac and poison ivy. Choose one of the examples already mentioned or another that you encountered in the story (or that is native to Kansas) and draw a colored picture of it. Make sure to include as much detail as possible so someone else might recognize it as an example of this particular tree/plant.