…Andrea’s father has been killed crossing the road and her best friend dumps her shortly afterwards. Life is bleak, like the billowing furnaces and wild moors which flank the city, but fab new 60s music, pop groups and pirate radio make her want to burst out of the mire. For Andrea and her friends, England is changing and sexual and social boundaries are beginning to blur. She’s going to handle the north midland gloom and her fog of misery her way. She’ll get pop-star Lennon look-alike, Brendan James, and lose her virginity.
But Andrea hasn’t planned on being a fourteen-year-old expectant mum, or on a stepfather - and the opportunities afforded by the move south to London, where life could be fun...
Award winning author Pam Mariko takes the reader on a journey through the ‘dark night of the soul’ to hope, balance, and bright new beginnings.
About the Author
Pamela Mariko grew up near UK's bleak Moors, where Red Moon: secrets of a sixties schoolgirl, (formerly Red Moon Rising), is set. She's a 2011 semi-finalist in Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award and gained five star reviews from Amazon panel editors and Publishers Weekly. In 2010 she won the Olvar Woods Fellowship Award, and in 2008 the Varuna Longlines. Besides this book, Pam also writes women's fiction. A former freelance travel and property writer, she is now driven to follow her heart and concentrate on novels. Pam lives on Australia's Sunshine Coast and enjoys spending time with her partner and family.
Industry Reviews
Reviews from semi-finals of Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest 2011 for Red Moon: secrets of a sixties schoolgirl (formerly Red Moon Rising): Overall: 5-stars; - it's ready for prime time. Hook: 5-stars; Easily. I very much want(ed) to find out if Andrea is pregnant, and if she'll be okay with the wake of her move and her father's death. Prose: 5-stars; Very great characterization and pacing. Originality: 5-stars. ...mature, intelligent and a stunning reading experience. It should rank very highly in the Young Adult genre but it is also worthy of an advanced placement in the more coveted General Literature genre. It is fresh, original and compelling. The writing is fluid and mature, showing an extraordinary amount of polish and panache. The narration successfully employs the first person narrative voice as well as a liberal use of authentic dialogue in a charming English (UK) vernacular. The characters are fully realized and three dimensional. This will undoubtedly become a successful novel, whether in the Young Adult category or General Literature. I applaud the author! From Publishers Weekly Andrea Hampton isn't just picking up the pieces of a wrecked life, she has to figure out what those pieces are after her father is killed in an accident and her best friend abandons her immediately thereafter. And she may be pregnant. On top of that, the world around her -- England of the mid-1960s -- is turning upside down, and she's trying to figure out how to be a teenager in an age where sexual and social boundaries are beginning to blur. This charming story ... out-of-hand parties set to popular tunes of the 60s. Despite major changes, Andrea still grabs happy moments and scenes that could have been melodramatic, e.g. when Andrea is wondering if she's had a miscarriage, are instead written deftly with a mix of humor and pathos. She grows up a lot, keeping the attention of readers through it all, to eventually find a bright new beginning. From Publishers Weekly: Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest 2011: I'm really stunned with this - and want very badly to read more. The pacing and characterization is superb, and the opening is such a strong hook - pregnancy scares and (sarcastic?) threats of suicide, all covered with this wonderfully dry wit. I think it would have been easy to turn Andrea into a snarking Mary Sue, but that thankfully hasn't happened - she seems very real and genuinely vulnerable. I was touched that she returned to playing with dolls for awhile immediately after her father's death - that seemed like a very nice and realistic detail. I also especially love the tarot references and the "maiden, mother, crone" symbolism sprinkled in - it reminds me a lot of a Joanne Harris novel and is very well done. Ana Mardoll Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest 2011: 5.0 out of 5 stars 2011 I found this excerpt fascinating. I was wondering how teenagers today would relate to it. (EG no morning after pill in the sixties) I am a Librarian & I run a teenage reading group in the Library. They were all very interested in the book so far and want to find out what happens next. The mix of anger and sadness and sense of loss over the death of her father is sensitive and yet very honest. D.Bruno, Bromley, UK.
