OCTOPUS MOON BY BOBBIE PYRON
I tear my eyes from my sweet dog
and look up at the sliver of moon,
barely there.
“I like it better when it’s full,” I say.
Laurel looks at me, her dark eyebrows scrunched up.
“But the moon is always full”
I blink. “It is?”
She points
at the moon.
“The moon is lit by the sun.
The dark part is just a shadow.”
“It’s always full?” I ask again.
“Yes, Pearl. The moon
is always full.”
Bobbie Pyron’s Octopus Moon is a beautiful and deeply needed novel in verse about a ten-year-old girl named Pearl as she begins to experience childhood depression. Pearl is thoughtful, sensitive, and deeply empathetic to all, especially the ocean and its creatures. But as fifth grade begins, life starts to feel heavier in ways she cannot fully explain. Things that once felt manageable, like friendships, school, and everyday life, begin to shift under the weight of something she does not yet have the words for.
I would recommend this book to any reader who wants to better understand what depression can look like in childhood. Its emotional honesty feels especially powerful because, as Pyron explains in her author’s note, Octopus Moon is the book she needed when she was young, before there were enough stories or language to help children understand what they were experiencing.
One of the most moving parts of the novel is Pearl’s relationship with her dog, who loves every version of her without question. That steady, unconditional love becomes a quiet but powerful thread throughout the story, reminding readers that Pearl is still herself even when depression makes her feel otherwise. The novel also shows the importance of support systems. Some of Pearl’s friends and family understand what she is going through right away, while others only begin to show up for her after doing some learning of their own about mental illness and realizing that depression is not something a person can simply “wish away.”
Because it is written in verse, Octopus Moon allows Pearl’s emotions to surface in a way that feels both gentle and deeply affecting. The language is accessible, but it never oversimplifies what Pearl is going through. In the end, Octopus Moon reminds us that, like the moon, a person can be shadowed and still remain whole.