Full Cicada Moon

In “Moving Forward,” Mimi tells Mama and Papa what happened in history. She has to repeat herself before her mother tells her that the past is the past and they need to forget. Papa thinks they can’t dwell on what happened, but that they need to remember so it doesn’t happen again. Mimi decides to keep writing in her journal even after she hands it in to Mr. Pease. She doesn’t want to forget, or for someone to tell a different story about her. In “Stacey’s Birthday,” Stacey asks Mimi to come to the drugstore and share a banana split to celebrate the moment of her birth. Mimi asks Stacey what she wants for her birthday even though she bought her earrings. Stacey wants an album her father doesn’t let her listen to. Mimi’s father has it, so Stacey decides to listen to it at her house. When Mimi asks Stacey if she is having a party, Stacey turns bright red and apologizes. She is having a party on Saturday and didn’t invite Mimi. Even though Mimi is her best friend, her mother is old-fashioned and would have said no. Mimi realizes why Stacey wanted her to come to the soda fountain on her birthday. The moment of Stacey’s birth passes, and Mimi says “Happy Birthday” instead of any angry words she wouldn’t be able to take back.

In “Light and Dark,” Mimi has completed her science project. It is a Styrofoam ball hanging in a shoebox demonstrating the eight phases of the moon with holes punched around the box for each phase. She lists the phases, and her father tells her that it explains them very well. Mimi’s mood is a “waning crescent” (126)—the project is small, boring, and flimsy and she knows she can never win first prize with it. Papa asks what she is going to do about that. She says she has to make a better one, even though she doesn’t know how. In “If I Had a Hammer,” Mimi thinks about how she would be able to make an awesome project if she had a power drill, a saw, and a screwdriver. All they have is a rusty saw, a screwdriver, and a drill she has to crank with her hand. When she uses those tools, the wood splinters and her arms get tired. She contemplates switching her project to lichens. 

In “Poults,” Mimi describes the 10 turkey poults Mama is raising to give away for Thanksgiving as her way of feeding 10 families for dinner. They stay in the extra bedroom in the house with an incubator until spring because the coop doesn’t have the right heater. The poults peep whenever they talk or pass by and climb all over Mimi. Though Mama tells Mimi not to name them, she already has. In “Math,” Mimi is sitting in study hall. David tells a girl how he is making his Science Groove project in wood shop. Mimi stares at her math book and wonders how to ask the wood shop teacher, Mr. Sperangio, to use the tools. After school, he tells her it isn’t possible because shop is for boys. When Mimi tries to explain that she only wants to use the tools, he tells her that the tools are dangerous, she has no training, and that girls can’t come inside. Though disappointed, Mimi is determined to find another way. In “Something Important,” Mama has been invited to a tea with the wives of the professors at Hillsborough College. Afraid, Mama asks what the tea is about. She thinks she doesn’t need to drink tea and talk to the other wives. Papa insists that it would be good for her to meet people and make friends. Though Mama says she has him, Mimi, and the turkeys, Papa asks if she would go if there was someone at the tea she could talk to. Mama agrees to go to make Papa happy.

In “April Vacation,” the yard has become a brown lake and the ground smells sour. The boy is in Mr. Dell’s yard again tossing a Frisbee to Pattress. Mimi waits for the boy to interact with her, deciding to respect his ways and protect her feelings. As she spreads grain and refills the waterers in the coop, the boy says “Hi” to her from the fence. He asks about the turkeys, and Mimi asks if he wants to see them. The boy steps into the yard and Pattress nudges Mimi’s hand. The boy explains that his uncle named the dog Patches, but he pronounced it Pattress as a kid. He introduces himself as Timothy and says that Mr. Dell is his great-uncle. Timothy helps Mimi clean the coop while they talk. Mimi shares that she thinks Mr. Dell doesn’t like her. Timothy explains that though Mr. Dell likes to be by himself, his brother Wesley brings Timothy to stay with him on school vacations. Mr. Dell’s wife died eight years ago, and he flew missions in World War II, goes flying by himself, and has a huge telescope. Mimi asks if she can see the moon through it. Timothy says she might be able to use it when Mr. Dell goes out. As he leaves, Mimi asks if Timothy isn’t allowed to come over. Timothy isn’t, but he doesn’t care. He hasn’t asked all the usual questions about her race, which makes Mimi smile.

In “Inheritance,” Papa and Mimi bake bread while Mama is at the wives’ tea. He uncovers the dough her grandfather made long ago, which was made from her grandmother’s starter. Mimi asks to hear her grandmother’s stories as Papa kneads the dough. He shares how she worked crops, ate lunch from a tin pail, visited neighbors on front porches, and shared a desk and pencil at school. When he tells her how it feels to hold your breath in an outhouse, Mimi holds her breath and pretends to be there. Papa then pinches off a handful of dough and replaces it in the jar. It is their history, and she won’t forget it. Papa writes her name, Mimi Yoshiko Oliver, in the flour. He tells her that she has Mama’s eyes and his stories. In “April Moon,” Timothy raps on the back door to tell Mimi that she can see from the telescope right now. When she pulls him inside, he smells the bread in the oven and thinks it’s cool that her dad bakes. They run to Mr. Dell’s garage, where Timothy leads her past all the machines to the back. Timothy turns a knob before waving Mimi over. He tells her she can look through it, but not touch it. Mimi puts her hands behind her back and bends over the eyepiece. At first, she only sees blue sky. She waits until she sees a waxing crescent and its pockmarks, craters, and seas. She whispers, “I will touch you” (145). Timothy reminds her that she can’t touch, pulling her back to Earth.

In “Hope,” Mimi looks around the garage and sees a workbench with power tools. She asks if Mr. Dell lets Timothy use the tools, if she could use them, and tells him about her science project. He doesn’t protest the way the shop teacher does and agrees to show her how when Mr. Dell goes out. Mimi finally asks if Mr. Dell doesn’t like her and her family because they are different. Mimi suddenly wishes she hadn’t asked in case Timothy hadn’t noticed that they look different. She realizes she can trust Timothy when he replies that Mr. Dell doesn’t like anyone, especially himself. In “Secrets,” Mimi doesn’t want to keep secrets from her parents. Every morning, Timothy knocks at the back door after Mr. Dell leaves. They head to the garage, where he shows Mimi how to use the tools for each step of her moon box. He teaches her how to saw wood, hammer, and sand. When they hear Mr. Dell’s truck, they hide her project, and she sneaks out the back door. Mama doesn’t ask where she goes with Timothy every morning but asks if she had a nice time. Mimi still feels like she is keeping secrets, even though she technically isn’t lying when she says yes. 

In “Weirdos,” Timothy and Mimi are in Mr. Dell’s garage when Timothy asks if Papa could teach him how to make bread. He admits that he wants to learn to cook and asks if Mimi thinks that’s weird. Mimi then asks if he thinks it’s weird that she likes to hammer and saw. Timothy tells her that it’s cool. Mimi shares that her father would like to teach him, and that it would make them even. Timothy likes showing her how to use the tools, and he admits that he likes being around her and likes her. In “Sea of Tranquility,” it’s a Thursday night halfway through April vacation. The moon box is almost done and Mimi plans to paint it black the next day. Papa is showing Timothy how to bake a basic loaf of bread while Mimi makes a papier-mâché moon. Though shaping accurate craters and seas will be hard, it will also be fun. She likes the names because they sound like poetry. When the moon dries, she will paint it different shades of gray and hang it in the moon box. She believes her science-meets-art project will win first prize. Timothy flushes with happiness after putting the pan into the oven. He asks Papa if he can learn to make something else before going back to New York. Papa offers to show him how to make an omelet, which will come in handy when he goes to college. Mimi hopes Timothy will stay until the bread is done. She flushes when he sits at the table and asks about her moon.

In “Sign of Spring,” Mimi calls spring “fireworks exploding yellow” (155), Papa calls it forsythia, and Mama simply sneezes. In “Water and Dirt,” Timothy and Mimi are at the workbench in Mr. Dell’s garage. As they sand the moon box, Timothy shares that his brother is thinking of joining the marines. Mimi mentions that Papa was a marine and met Mama when he was stationed in Tokyo. Timothy concentrates on the box as though he doesn’t want to hear how they met. Timothy doesn’t want Wesley to go to Vietnam. Mimi feels sandwiched by wars and instead asks if Timothy is coming back in the summer. They both hope so. Mimi asks Timothy to help her carry the moon box back when Mr. Dell walks in. He asks Timothy what he has there and who is with him. Timothy is flushed, so Mimi answers that Timothy showed her how to put her science project together. Mr. Dell says it would be cheating if she used his tools. Timothy responds that he doesn’t think so and Mimi apologizes respectfully. She tells Timothy she can carry it by herself and squeezes through the door. Mimi’s tears soak into the lid. She keeps hearing Mr. Dell’s words and realizes Timothy won’t come over to make omelets tonight.