Moonkid and Prometheus

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Ian McNaughton, a.k.a. Moonkid, is two years older than when
middle-school readers first met him and his family in Moonkid and
Liberty. He is still short, still a social outcast, and still the object
of older sister Liberty’s derision. Because of school misbehavior,
Ian, now in Grade 10, must choose between tutoring an elementary-school
student or being sent to a tough secondary school. He opts for the
tutoring and is paired with Prometheus “Pro” John Gibbs, a
six-foot-tall black Grade 7 student who lives in the projects. Over the
school term, this odd couple swap their tutor/pupil roles a number of
times and become close friends. While Moonkid addresses Pro’s learning
needs, Pro helps his uncoordinated tutor to develop both his basketball
and his social skills.

In this longer-than-usual young-adult novel, Moonkid’s first-person
narration is effectively counterbalanced by Pro’s journal entries,
which illustrate not only his keen insights into events, but also his
evolving writing skills. The author’s teaching experience is reflected
in the authenticity of the school setting and in the convincing
re-creation of classroom dynamics. Nonjocks will readily identify with
Moonkid’s agonies and humiliations during phys-ed classes. Moonkid and
Prometheus are believable and well-developed characters. Highly
recommended.