Status
Available
Call number
Call number
FIC KEN
Collection
Description
Ana is not your typical teenager. She grew up in a tiny Mennonite colony in Bolivia, from which her mother fled when Ana was a young girl. Now Ana and her father have also fled, and Ana doesn't know why. She only knows that something was amiss in their tight-knit community. Arriving in Toronto, Ana has to fend for herself in this alien environment, completely isolated in a big city with no help and no idea where to even begin. But begin she does- she makes a friend, then two. She goes to school and tries to understand the myriad unspoken codes and rules. She is befriended by a teacher. She goes to the library, the mall, parties. And all the while, she searches for the mother who left so long ago, and tries to understand her father -- also a stranger in a strange land, with secrets of his own. This is a beautifully told story that will resonate with readers who have struggled with being new and unsure in a strange place, even if that place is in a classroom full of people they know. Ana's story is unique but universal; strange but familiar; extraordinary but ordinary- a fish out of water tale that speaks to us all.… (more)
Genres
Publication
Tundra Books (2018), Edition: Reprint, 224 pages
Original language
English
Language
User reviews
LibraryThing member AngelaFries
I was pleasantly surprised to find this such an enjoyable book. I completed it in 2 days. Ani is a easily relatable girl who is going through crazy teenage years while searching for her mother. Add to that her and her father were/are Mennonites. Based off the title and the cover it does not seem
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like it would be a page turner but it truely was. I highly reccomed it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Serenity_Tigerlily
Short, but well written. Overall, it was a compelling read and I enjoyed the characters and the plot. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a few things missing to make this book spectacular. It needed a little bit more “umph;” something to grab the reader’s attention and keep them invested.
*received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
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*received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member kawaiibelle
I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, easy to get into. I liked experiencing modern Canada for the first time through Ani's eyes. This specific perspective was one I hadn't read before, and it was interesting. I also love the cover.
LibraryThing member dketelsen
I received a free copy of this book from GoodReads.
I was quite impressed with this book and read it very quickly. The author, Trilby Kent, has a very deft touch in this quiet character study of a 14-year old Mennonite girl whose father has removed her from her Bolivian home in a Mennonite community
I was quite impressed with this book and read it very quickly. The author, Trilby Kent, has a very deft touch in this quiet character study of a 14-year old Mennonite girl whose father has removed her from her Bolivian home in a Mennonite community
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and moved to the Canadian city of Toronto. Ana's adapting to this change of circumstance is handled well by Kent and there's a touch of mystery added as Ana tracks down her long time missing mother and attempts to uncover the secrets of her parents past. Once, in a Town called Moth is a solid book told with sensitivity and should appeal to people of all ages Show Less
LibraryThing member karen813
"Once in a Town Called Moth" is a quiet, thoughtful book about a Ana,14 year old Mennonite girl from Bolivia who relocates to Canada with her father in search of her missing mother. Ana's mother left them 10 years ago, Ana has no idea why her mother left or why her father is suddenly searching for
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her. Ana finds it difficult to adjust at first to life in Canada but once she has a few friends she starts to become more comfortable with this new life. Ana takes the initiative to search for her mother herself and find the answers to why her mother left and why her father is suddenly looking for her. I loved watching Ana grow up through the book, she starts as a timid girl, almost afraid to think for herself and by the end she is much more confident and able to make her own decisions about her life. The mystery regarding Ana's parents was well written and believable and the ending was satisfying. My only reservation about the book was the side plot involving Ana's teacher, I wasn't sure what the purpose of it was and I didn't think it added anything to the story. Overall this was a good coming of age story featuring a population that isn't usually seen in YA literature. Show Less
LibraryThing member xaverie
Once in a Town Called Moth is the kind of book you give a teenager if you want to introduce them to Canadian literature.
The premise is interesting enough: a young teenage girl and her father leave their small Mennonite community in Bolivia and settle in Toronto. Why they left is a major thread of
The main character, Ana, is fourteen and just starting high school. After growing up in a reserved and small community, the city - and high school - is a bizarre world she's never before encountered. Ana is a lovely narrator, expressing how she is caught between worlds and emotions with aplomb.
The narrative switches between the present in Toronto and Ana's recollections of Colony Felicidad in Bolivia, which works in more than one way by revealing more of her past as well as containing pieces to the emotional puzzle Ana hopes to solve about her missing mother.
At just over 200 pages, Once in a Town Called Moth is a very quick read with only a small cast of characters and no romance. It's about Ana's struggle with family and identity, which makes it stand apart from a good number of other YA books. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it as a relatively quick intro to the Canlit genre.
The premise is interesting enough: a young teenage girl and her father leave their small Mennonite community in Bolivia and settle in Toronto. Why they left is a major thread of
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the story.The main character, Ana, is fourteen and just starting high school. After growing up in a reserved and small community, the city - and high school - is a bizarre world she's never before encountered. Ana is a lovely narrator, expressing how she is caught between worlds and emotions with aplomb.
The narrative switches between the present in Toronto and Ana's recollections of Colony Felicidad in Bolivia, which works in more than one way by revealing more of her past as well as containing pieces to the emotional puzzle Ana hopes to solve about her missing mother.
At just over 200 pages, Once in a Town Called Moth is a very quick read with only a small cast of characters and no romance. It's about Ana's struggle with family and identity, which makes it stand apart from a good number of other YA books. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it as a relatively quick intro to the Canlit genre.
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LibraryThing member dmerrell
I found this to be a well crafted and very readable story. Love, loss, redemption and the gradual maturation of the lead character all make for a well written and executed story.
LibraryThing member sennebec
An interesting and somewhat offbeat coming of age story. Teens with family secrets, stresses and religious issues will find it a relatable read.
LibraryThing member lisan.
This was a just-grit-your-teeth-and-read-it-because-the-publisher-offered-you-a-free-copy book. But I found it extremely boring, and the so-called suspense was the boringest part of all. Ana moves to Canada after her living her life in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. She has a hard time fitting
Thank you publishers, but this was not the book for me.
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in. She tries to find her mother who abandoned her in the community years before. Her father is keeping something from her that caused them to flee their Mennonite community. Believe me, the story is exactly as interesting as I'm describing it. The only interesting character in the book was Suvi, who befriends Ana when she moves to Canada, and she didn't get nearly enough page time. The story went along drop by drop and by the time stuff started getting a reveal, I wasn't at all interested in what was going on. I skimmed through the last twenty pages when I became desperate to get through this.Thank you publishers, but this was not the book for me.
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LibraryThing member True54Blue
Anneli has been abruptly removed from her life in a Mennonite colony in Bolivia and relocated to Toronto, Canada. The story alternates from telling her current story in Toronto to her past story in Bolivia with the promise of revealing what she doesn't remember or didn't know because of her age.
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There are certainly moments in this story but overall the person of Ana/Anneli doesn't ring true. She too quickly becomes a product of Canada and although there is a hint of the angst such a relocation would cause it seems a foregone conclusion that she will chose Canada over the only life she has ever known. Her and her father ostensibly move to Toronto to search for her long-gone mother but their reunion is almost anticlimactic and the ending was sappy. It's a quick read and entertaining but don't expect deep thoughts about moving between drastically different cultures. Show Less
LibraryThing member amazzuca26
This book was a quick read and I was super interested in learning about the Mennonite communities in Bolivia. The details about the Mennonite lifestyle contrasting with life in Toronto pulled me in as a reader. Anneli is an extremely likable character who is torn between becoming her own person in
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Toronto and living in the Mennonite manner serving God. This book was terrific. Show Less
LibraryThing member BethanyLynnFox
Ana grew up in a Mennonite community in Bolivia with her father, until her father relocated them to Toronto. Ana and her father search for her mother who had left the family when Ana was five. While searching for her mother, Ana learns secrets about her father and why they had to leave Bolivia.
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This novel tackles what it is like to be a teenager trying to assimilate into a completely different culture. Along with trying to figure out the social norms of high school, Ana struggles to reconnect with her mother and learns more about her previous life in Bolivia. This novel is a bit of a slow burner, and is not filled with a lot of action or shocking twists. It is short, but well written read. It is different than a lot of YA books, which is a refreshing change. Show Less
LibraryThing member MizPurplest
I really enjoyed the style and the story, particularly how the mystery wasn't really the key plot, but was fed out slowly without extra drama to enhance the characters rather than drive the pace. As a reader I could really feel Ana trying to get a grip on the confused identities she's carrying,
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trying to be both the self she knows from her Mennonite upbringing and the self she's learning to be in modern Toronto. Show Less
LibraryThing member EmScape
I requested this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program because I was interested in learning more about the Mennonite culture the young protagonist was brought up in. Though there are some flash-backs to her life there, she was really too young to fully understand what was going on. Due to
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this, the story is not as fascinating as I had hoped, but the character of Ana is more relatable. As other reviewers have mentioned, Ana adapts very quickly to her new life in Canada as she searches for her mother. She seems to be putting in a lot more effort than her father is, even though he ostensibly moved the two of them there for that purpose. The eventual climax and reunion is not as revealing as I'd hoped, but the subject matter is probably tempered for a young audience. It was a quick read, and pretty much enjoyable. Show Less
LibraryThing member standhenry
Once in a Town Called Moth is a story about a teenage girl who is suddenly out of her comfort zone. A Mennonite from Bolivia, she abruptly moves to Canada with her father. She struggles to understand the different culture, friendships, and what it means to be a teenager outside of a sheltered
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environment. Additionally, she searches for her mother who has been missing for 10 years. Secrets are uncovered and relationships changed. This book is an interesting look at growing up, friendship, community and how we are connected to our families. Thumbs Up! Show Less
ISBN
073526306X / 9780735263062