Marilee Brothers grew up in and currently resides in central Washington state, and from what I can tell, she loves it there. The Moonstone is her second novel, and it’s set there; not only that, but Allie and her story live in the same area as Ms. Brothers. Apparently she is outnumbered by the males in her family (four to one) and has published one novel before this, a historical paranormal romance under a pseudonym. She says on her website that she never even considered writing YA novels until she got a rejection letter from a publisher who suggested that with her style (described as combination of ‘goofy and intelligent’) she would be a natural YA writer. This book was published by Belle Books, like Bite Me.

Alfrieda Carlotta Emerson, generally called Allie, lives in a trailer with her mother — the kind of trailer that actually is mobile, unlike a good deal of so-called mobile homes. Normally the trailer rests on her uncle’s property, although his wife hates it. She’s fourteen, and everything about her life has been normal, if a bit disadvantaged, until she slips off a ladder, hits her head, and then stops a bull from running her over — with her mind. Then, all of a sudden, everything changes. She acquires a flaky spiritual guide named Trilby; her friend, an older woman named Kizzy, gives her a moonstone pendant; and now people seem to be after her. On top of that, the Child Protection Board is snooping around and wondering if maybe her mother isn’t fit to take care of her. Can she survive the stalkers and keep living with her mother?

No, this obviously isn’t the Wilkie Collins classic. There really aren’t any particular similarities, either; I might have picked a different title for this book, but the moonstone pendant is certainly the central focus of the tale. Allie is our first-person narrator; she’s perspicacious and feisty and fairly self-honest, especially for a fourteen-year-old. I liked her; overall, she did talk like a fourteen-year-old and generally behaved like one. Any oddities were easily explained by of her interesting family situation. In other words, nothing stood out. The other characters were generally well-defined and internally consistent, as well; I loved the head day nurse at the hospital. There was one character for whom his actions and his thoughts didn’t match very well, but at this point I’m going to assume that was setup for a later volume in the series.

I thought the introduction was a smidge awkward, but once the story actually began at Chapter 1, it flowed very smoothly and was paced well. I enjoyed the touches of humor, mostly provided by the random appearances of the flaky spiritual guide Trilby; apparently the first stage of afterlife, for Trilby, is the SeaTac airport. To balance the humor, though, the book has a lot of heart. Allie never says, flat-out, that she has a lousy family life, but we see her buying ramen noodles for meals, and she has to take care of her mother for large stretches of the book. Her relationship with Kizzy is also warm, and lovely to read.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit; I thought it was a good start to a series. It’s very likely that the second book will be even better — we’ve already got the world set up for us, and Ms. Brothers can get on with the storytelling. Her strength is her characters, I felt; while the other elements of the story were just fine, it’s Allie’s voice I’ve been able to remember since I finished the book. I would very much like to hear that voice again. I understand that she’s got another book in a different series coming out in 2009; I can only hope that she returns to Allie’s story soon. Considering how many questions she left hanging . . . very soon. 4/5 stars.