West of the Moon by Margi Preus is the story of a Norwegian girl of the 19th century who is left with her aunt and uncle when her mother dies and her father goes off to start a new life for the family in America. The girl, Astri, is sold into servitude by her aunt to a goatman who is physically, mentally, and verbally abusive toward her. She has left her younger sister behind, and she receives no communication from her aunt and uncle related to her father. Astri comforts herself with the folktales and stories of her homeland...ones she has been told as long as she can remember, and she often compares her life to these tales. It is her desperation to escape the goatman, reunite with her sister, and travel to America to meet her father that eventually leads Astri to plan an escape that is somewhat inspired by these folktales. There were some elements to West of the Moon that were strong. The way Preus interweaves the folklore with the historical fiction is artful and seamless...it works. Astri is a character readers can relate to, even if they don't really like her. Throughout the story there are many things that Astri does that I felt were mistakes--she is certainly far from being perfect--, yet these mistakes were things Astri did because she truly thought she was making the best decisions. The peek Preus gives us into Norway and it's history and customs is another nice touch. All that said, I really didn't feel I could rate this book higher than a 3. I found the book difficult to read. The story is told by Astri, but she alternates between folklore and realtime events frequently. If this weren't confusing enough, there's also the flashbacks, the dream sequences, and the occasional overuse of pronouns which leaves the reader feeling confused to as to who is doing/saying what. I felt this book would be difficult for many of my students to follow, and that many may have time really "getting into" the book in the first place.