Swimming on the Moon

LoveReading4Kids Says

March 2023 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month February 2023

Faced with the collapse of their parents’ marriage, twins Anna and Anto know that only one thing really matters to them: they must never be split up. It’s a twin thing.

Anna knows that whatever the differences between her and her brother Anto - and there are many including that Anto is autistic - they are each half of a whole and cannot manage without each other.

Anna narrates the emotionally insightful and deftly told story of how she and Anto, two children facing up to their parents separating with a well-judged mixture of sad reality, tremendous warmth and relieving humour.

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A review from Joanne Owen : 

We’re huge fans of Brian Conaghan’s wise, warm-hearted novels here at LoveReading, and Swimming on the Moon really does have the feel of a book that’ll stand the test of time and become a pre-teen classic. Exploring how it feels to fear your parents are splitting up, and showing the beautiful bond between a compassionate twelve-year-old girl and her nonverbal autistic twin brother, it’s moving, funny and utterly adorable.

Anna’s biggest fear is that her constantly arguing parents will split up and separate her from her twin brother Anto. Of course, as with all brother-sister relationships, there are times when he’s annoying and frustrating, but Anna’s patience and protectiveness, and her ingenuity at helping Anto communicate with Lego is gorgeous. She’s proud of him too: “Anto gets to experience the world in a very unique way…He’s not some secret to be locked in a box”.

Then, when Anna discovers her dance group is going to compete in Italy, she sees a bright light of hope. Her parents are never happier than when they’re on holiday, so she just has to convince them all to go to romantic Rome. But with more surprises ahead, Anna digs deep to understand adults’ baffling behaviour, all the while looking out for Anto.

Fittingly, given Anna’s love of the author, Swimming on the Moon is Judy Blume-level brilliant at evoking a 12-year-old’s perspective on life, and through her we gain compassionate, wise insights into how Anto experiences the world.

Reviewed by Julia Eccleshare M.B.E
Julia Eccleshare has a lifetime of working within children’s books as a critic, an editor, an author and a commentator.
More reviews by Julia Eccleshare M.B.E

About Swimming on the Moon

Twelve-year-old Anna's parents are going through a rough patch, but Anna can't let them split up. Not when it might mean living apart from Anto, her twin brother. Anto might be a boy, and he might not speak (except using Lego bricks), and he might carry a coat hanger about like it's his closest friend, but that doesn't stop the two of them being like peas in a pod.

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