No One Walks on My Father's Moon

A Turkish schoolboy's excited announcement about the first lunar landing enrages his Islamic fundamentalist father, who is convinced that the news cannot be true and beats the boy for lying. When the father holds out his hand afterward for his son to kiss, in keeping with custom, Curtis explains in characteristically over-earnest tones that ""the beating had hurt the boy's heart even more than it had hurt his body, and so his lips fell cold and numb against his father's hand, the warm blood of love no longer flowing through his veins."" A wise teacher comforts the grieving boy by suggesting that the moon is different for each person who sees it. The teacher's conclusion, ""in truth is the many in one,"" helps the boy understand his father's point of view and achieve reconciliation. The story's point, that one can respect and love another even if he or she holds beliefs contrary to one's own, makes less of an impression than the great pomp and circumstance with which it is delivered. While the book is attractive to look at--it's handsomely designed and Hyland's watercolors are set off by elaborate borders--stressing the worthiness of a given message isn't necessarily the right strategy for appealing to a child. Ages 9-up. (Oct.)