Soul Moon Soup

Soul Moon Soup by Lindsay Lee Johnson was a great book with a fascinating subject. Phoebe Rose is 11 years old; she is an artist and a poet, living in the big city with her Mama and their suitcase. Mama always told that if they carried a suit case at the bus station, people would assume they were going somewhere. For a while, Phoebe even bought it. Now, however, Daddy is gone. Daddy can’t bring home little presents to their “living van” because it left when he did. Phoebe used to draw him things, like a comfy couch or a necklace of pearls that she was sure he would buy for Mama if he could. But the money left when he did, and all that was left was the suitcase.

This book is full of poems of the thoughts going through Phoebe’s head as she journeys through the life of a homeless child, and even back to Mama’s home town, Silver Moon Lake.  One night at the bus station, she was left in charge of the suitcase while Mama got food samples for them. She was told to stay still and guard it with her life. Phoebe Rose couldn’t hold it anymore; she had to go to the bathroom, so she took it with her, and left it outside the stall. Not a minute later, their suitcase was gone. It was empty, but it held their pride, and that’s when the beginning of the end begun. That’s when Mama put her baby girl on a train by her lonesome and off to Silver Moon Lake.

There, Phoebe stayed with her Mama’s Mama. She learned about being a kid and letting the grownups do their grown up things. She learns secrets of her family and how to collect eggs with frustrating the hens. She made her first real friend, a lifelong sister, and she learned to forgive her Mama.

Soul Moon Soup is a wonderful story about the honest and struggling life of a homeless child. I found it to be helpful when it comes to empathy and understanding of fellow human beings. The words flowed together flawlessly and made the story easy and interesting to read. I have not read any other books by Lindsay Lee Johnson, but I look forward to checking out more of her work in the future.

Book Review by Maddie J.