Unhooking the Moon

Unhooking the Moon (2010), a middle grade adventure novel by Gregory Hughes, centers on a young girl who heads to New York with her brother to find their uncle after their father dies unexpectedly. It won the 2010 Book Trust Teenage Prize and was nominated for the 2011 Carnegie Medal. Hughes writes novels for children and young adults. Expelled from Jesuit school, he completed his education at a home for wayward boys. After studying IT at university, he traveled the world, working varied jobs from a deep-sea diver to a dishwasher.

The protagonist, Marie Claire DeBillier, also known as the “Rat,” lives with her father, John, and her brother, Bob, in rural Winnipeg. Her mother died in a farming accident and John has never recovered. He drinks constantly because he is so unhappy. Rat worries about him but doesn’t know how to help him feel better. She is still dealing with her own grief.

Bob is Rat’s best friend. They are nothing like each other, but that’s why they get on so well. He helps her deal with John’s alcoholism, and he makes her feel that everything will work out in the end. Rat knows that John doesn’t mean to be an absent father, it’s the grief that is to blame, but if she didn’t have Bob, she would have no one looking out for her at all.



On the last day of school before summer vacation, John dies suddenly. Bob and Rat find him when they head home in the afternoon. Bob immediately calls the authorities, but Rat makes him hang up and listen. If Bob tells the police about the death, they will separate the kids and give them to foster homes. The only option is to bury John outside. Bob hates the idea of burying his father in such a crude way, but he knows that Rat is right. Together, they bury John in the garden beside their mother and say a few words.

That night, Rat dreams of a man who lives between tall buildings in a bustling city. He defends everyone and people think he is a hero. She tells Bob about her dream the next morning, but he thinks it is stupid. Bob tells her to stop dreaming and focus on what they will do next, since it’s only a matter of time before the authorities find them living alone.

Rat asks a family friend for advice. They tell her about Uncle Jerome, who lives in New York City. If they find Jerome, he will surely look after them. Rat is convinced that Jerome is the hero from her dream, and when she tells Bob, he agrees that finding Jerome is their only option. Without much of a plan, the two kids leave the farmhouse behind and head for the train station.



At the station, the kids run into a man called Joey. Joey feels bad for them because they are orphans, and he knows what that is like. He is headed for New York City himself, and so he gives them a ride. When they arrive in New York, he warns them to be careful, because it is a scary city and it is easy to get lost.

Alone in New York City, Bob and Rat realize that their problems are only just beginning. They have no idea where Jerome is, and they don’t have anywhere to stay. They make for Central Park to plan their next move. All they know about Jerome is that he is probably a drug dealer, and drug dealers often live in the Bronx. They decide to head there first.

The Bronx is much bigger than the kids imagined, and they know they can’t find Jerome on their own. Eventually, through word of mouth, they locate Joey again. He is a cigar trader on a business trip and he can’t help them. He tells them that they will be safe in Central Park until they find Jerome. With no option, the kids head back to Central Park and sleep in a homeless den there.



The people in the den welcome Bob and Rat into the makeshift family. They warn them both to stay away from the police, because they will separate the kids and put them in foster homes. The kids have a few close calls with the police, who wonder why they’re alone so much, but they manage to evade capture.

One day, everything goes wrong. The police find Rat wandering around by herself and they decide to take her in. Despite her protests, they send her to a children’s home. Bob desperately searches for her in New York City, and his friends from Central Park locate her in the children’s home, but they cannot free her until Bob finds Jerome.

Bob uses all his smarts to finally locate Jerome. Although Jerome doesn’t know much about being a father, he is loyal to his family and determined to get Rat back. He finds the children’s home and gets Rat out. Taking them to his place, he promises that he will always look out for them. For the first time in weeks, Rat feels safe.