Moon Water by Pam Webber

Moon Water: A Novel

Pam Webber 

She Writes Press

August 20, 2019

Book Summary by Publisher

“Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the summer of 1969, Moon Water follows Nettie, a gritty sixteen-year-old who is reeling from sucker punches coming from all directions. Her boyfriend since grade school wants to break up just as they were beginning to figure out the sex thing, her life-long nemesis is jabbing her with perfectly polished nails, and her hell’s fire and brimstone preacher refuses to baptize her. In the middle of this turmoil, an old medicine woman for the Monacan Indians gives her a cryptic message about a coming darkness: a blood moon whose veiled danger threatens Nettie and those she loves. To survive, Nettie and her best friend, Win, have to build a mysterious dreamcatcher—one that requires them to scour the perilous mountains for Nature’s ancient but perfect elements. A captivating standalone sequel to The Wiregrass, a Historical Novel Society’s Editor’s Choice and Southern Literary Review’s Read of the Month.”

I don’t even know how to describe how I feel about this book. It tore me up. It made me laugh. I learned a ton about the Monacan Indians — the medicine they used of holistic healing through herbs and other plants. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Win’s grandmother Nibi. She was ultimately my favorite character in the whole book. Nibi to me was like a guiding angel to Nettie and Win. Similar to let's say Rafiki in the Lion King, she taught the girls how to take care of themselves, to see the miracle of life, to feel the spirit of the earth, and that love is much needed to make life complete. That being said, I loved all of Pam Webber’s characters.  Moon Water was light and dark and everything in between: adventurous, spiritual, heartbreaking, horrific.  So much growth happens in Moon Water not only for Nettie and Win, her best friend but also for the writer herself or so it seemed to me. Pam Webber is a fantastic writer using Hurricane Camille as one of the antagonists with the ability to reach out of the book, into your heart and tear it out of you if you let her.