Overview

Product Description

KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW: " A moving and romantic coming-out story and a triumphant celebration of lesbian liberation."
SEMI-FINALIST BOOKLIFE PRIZE
GOLD MEDAL IPPY AWARD—Young Adult Fiction
GOLD MEDAL READERS' FAVORITE AWARD—Young Adult Coming of Age

Tracy should have been a boy. Even her older brother Spencer says so, though he wouldn’t finish the thought with, “And I should have been a girl.”

Though both feel awkward in their own skin, they have to face who they are—queers in the late 60s.

When both are caught with gay partners, their lives and futures are endangered by their homophobic father as their mother struggles to defend them.

While the Vietnam War threatens to take Spencer away, Tracy and her father wage a war of their own, each trying to save the sweet, talented pianist.

At seventeen, Tracy dresses as a boy and leaves her parents in turmoil, with only the slimmest hope of finding peace within herself. She journeys to a girl with a guitar, calling to her from a photo, "Come to Alaska. We'd be great friends."

Maybe even The MoonStone Girls.

"Skipstone has delved into a vibrant era of rapidly changing values with empathy and authenticity. Tracy is a fiercely sympathetic protagonist as she resists the numerous forces trying to drive her toward self-hate and conformity. . . . A moving and romantic coming-out story and a triumphant celebration of lesbian liberation."- Kirkus Starred Review

"This story's impassioned cry against repression will encourage readers to face their own challenges with strength and determination. The inspiring and emotional story of a young lesbian's journey toward wholeness in Texas in the 1960s." - Booklife Review

"Complex, creative, and captivating...There is more to this tale than is immediately apparent: the book grapples with relevant questions about the meaning of a life well-lived, love, regret, and redemption while exploring teenage and young adult drama, sibling bond, family, friendship, and the hot-button issues of the era such as LGBTQ and gender and racial inequalities. Twists are in plenty, and the ending is heartwarming and satisfying."- The Prairies Book Review

"A fierce coming-of-age story, THE MOONSTONE GIRLS tells the heartbreak and secret triumph of the LGBTQ experience during the tumultuous 1960s. Above all, it's about the joy and danger in self-expression-through music, sexuality, fashion; staying true to yourself and what you want, and finding your own family who loves you as you are. A poignant tearjerker that's effectively written as an autobiography bridging the past with the present."- IndieReader

"A heartfelt and heartbreaking coming-of-age story of how two queer siblings embrace who they truly are and hide their greatest truths." - Chanticleer Reviews

The MoonStone Girls by Brooke Skipstone is a fantastic novel that focuses on human desires, wishes, and coming to terms with who we really are. . . . Brooke Skipstone put so much thought and effort into the story, and you can feel it. "Each chapter reveals more about the protagonists, each dialogue further cements the images of the characters and helps them shape their future. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone and everyone because this needs to be read!" - Rabia Tanveer

"Skipstone's novel is full of passion, love, self-doubt, fears, and hope. How Tracy and Spencer handle tragedy is masterfully conveyed." - Authors Reading

"This is a fantastic story with so many moments that you want to laugh and cry. I highly recommend this book to anyone in the LGBTQ community and I believe these words will help many find their 'true' selves. . . . Spencer's story will tear into your flesh and leave marks. Tracy's story will soothe your soul. This is a book of pure hope." - Anelynde Smit, Readers' Favorite

"The author's handling of the lesbian relationship is different from standard romance tropes. Their relationship is shown to be deeply embedded in friendship, understanding of the mutual struggles, and revolting against a homophobic society. This powerful emotional turmoil is delivered through potent and impassioned language that will steal the heart of readers." - Literary Titan

Brooke Skipstone is a multi-award winning author who lives in Alaska where she watches the mountains change colors with the seasons from her balcony. Where she feels the constant rush toward winter as the sunlight wanes for six months of the year, seven minutes each day, bringing crushing cold that lingers even as the sun climbs again. Where the burst of life during summer is urgent under twenty-four-hour daylight, lush and decadent. Where fish swim hundreds of miles up rivers past bear claws and nets and wheels and lines of rubber-clad combat fishers, arriving humped and ragged, dying as they spawn. Where danger from the land and its animals exhilarates the senses, forcing her to appreciate the difference between life and death. Where the edge between is sometimes too alluring.
The Queering is her fifth novel. Visit her website at for information about her first four novels-The Moonstone Girls, Crystal's House of Queers, Some Laneys Died, and Someone To Kiss My Scars.