Johnny Moon represents a new direction for Mike Palecek. Straying from his traditional emphasis on present-day or near-future adult protagonists who end up in prison when they refuse to kowtow to the powers that be, Palecek's new novel features Johnny Moon, a likable 1963 schoolkid. Johnny, his schoolmates, Sister Mark and the other faculty, and a couple of workmen one of whom has been living in the basement of the Catholic school. The unlikely cast...