|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Enjoyable story about a young girl discovering that she comes from a family of shape-shifters. Ancient curses, full moons and hard-to-keep secrets all make for an intriguing story and, maybe, the groundwork for a series?|rating=3.5|buy=Yes|borrow=Yes
|pages=173
|publisher=D A McGrath
|date=June 2013
|isbn=B00D9V7QOA|website=https://www.facebook.com/damcgrathauthor/
|video=
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00D9V7QOA</amazonuk>
}}
WeWhen the bad dreams and the whispers at night first start, Clara has no idea what'll have s going on. All she knows is that the lack of sleep is making her feel ill. But a visit from her Great Aunt Selina supplies some answers. Clara's family has a review gift. One member of each generation has the ability to shape-shift into the form of any species of animal. But the gift comes with an ancient curse - bearers of it can only transform during the three days of the full moon each month. As you can imagine, Clara has difficulty believing this . After all, she hasn't shape-shifted yet. She's just had some bad dreams. But somewhere deep down inside, an insistent and unavoidable sense tells her it's true. Even so, it is a long road to acceptance and, despite a closer and closer relationship with Aunt Selina, who tries to mentor her, Clara struggles to come to terms with her new reality. Of course, such a gift is not something you want everyone to know about. And it's hard to master, especially while keeping it secret. Clara has a lot on her plate... The best part of ''Under the Light of a Full Moon'' just has to be McGrath's wonderful descriptions of the time Clara spends shape-shifting as another creature. Over the course of the book shortlyshe becomes a dog, a cat, a fox, even a swan, and each experience is so vividly described you could almost believe that you yourself know what it is to be a dog, a cat, a fox, even a swan. I loved these segments, described using all our senses and plenty of instinct and emotion. I also enjoyed Clara - in her human form! - as a character. She is quite stubborn and very determined, which sometimes leaves her in conflict with Aunt Selina. But she's also kindhearted and quite sensitive. The combination of supernatural shape-shifting ability and ancient curse means quite a few secrets must be kept and this sometimes means conflict - deceiving parents and lying to friends. Poor Clara hates this and you can't blame her. I think most readers will identify with her and imagine their own reactions if they were in her place. It's not perfect. Sometimes the dialogue is a little stilted. There are some slightly dated details - hard to avoid in our fast-moving world - like Clara's father renting a DVD for everyone to watch on Friday nights, which could perhaps be edited to better reflect realities of family life. But these are minor criticisms. I'm a reviewer: I have to nitpick! Overall, ''Under the Light of a Full Moon'' has an interesting premise, a relatable central character, some fabulous descriptive sequences, and the building of a quest that may be resolved in future instalments. There's a lot to like, with the hopes of more to come. If you decide to read and enjoy ''Under the Light of a Full Moon'', then Rob Keeley's [[Childish Spirits by Rob Keeley|Childish Spirits]] supernatural series features a similarly relatable central character in Ellie. Shape-shifting also features in the wonderful [[Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones]].
You can read more about Donna McGrath [[:Category:Donna McGrath|here]]
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