Just a warning. This is not a novel for anyone very sensitive or sad. It will bring you down. Aside from that, the writing is quite beautiful. It carries this story in a simple, sincere, and heartfelt way.

The story is of a young woman named Piper who is dying of cancer. She reflects back on her years of childhood, growing up in a poverty-stricken part of rural Vermont. Left with only her father and brother after her mother deserts her family, Piper tries to become more accepted at school by taking part in a school play. Her teacher, Nick Hammer, singles out Piper due to her beautiful voice. As their relationship becomes more complicated, Piper's father leaves home to live with a woman who has a son in her class.

You see where this is going. Difficulties and pain as a child eventually turn into difficulties and pain as a young adult. Why was this book so good to read then? I think it was because I felt for Piper as she tried to survive all of the difficulties in her life. She had an amazing friend named Becca who was there for her both in childhood and in her equally difficult days as a grown woman. She had a brother Quinn who took on the role of a parent in order to keep some semblance of steadiness in Piper's life.

This is a story about an individual wanting comfort and nurturing and just not quite knowing how to go about getting it. It's a story of a devoted friend and a brother as well as a story about surviving adversity. It's also definitely worth a read. ( )

At age thirty Piper Kincaid is dying of breast cancer. This is the end of what has hardly been an easy life. When Piper was a teenager her artist mother ran away, her spirit crushed by the burdens of poverty and motherhood. I expected that this would be a book about coming to terms with death, but it is actually a book about coming to terms with the loss of a mother. The year that Piper's mother left Piper finds herself drawn into a relationship with one of her male teachers. Piper's brother is committed to putting a stop to what is decidedly an inappropriate relationship, though Piper clings to it, feeling that she has lost so much else.

I found this book to be rather difficult to get through, and I expected to like it more than I did. The subject matter sounded like something that would appeal to me, but the execution didn't match my expectations. I simply could not get invested in the characters and their web of decidedly vast problems. ( )

This story was rather depressing to me. I didn't hate reading it, and very much enjoyed parts of it, and found it easy to read when my own mood was not weighed down with Oregon spring rain. It may have been this depressing quality that made me wonder at the end "What's the point?" Did my own dark mood prevent me from seeing the point? Quite possibly, but Piper's recognition of the value of loving friendship was not enough for me. What did I miss? I didn't hate it it. I just didn't get it.

Undressing The Moon is not a book I'd recommend to anyone feeling depressed or undergoing the difficulties Piper experienced, but I liked it enough to think it might be a good book for someone else. ( )

I loved this book! Couldn't put it down once I started reading. I enjoyed the back-and-forth between the adult Piper and the 14 year old Piper. Would have rated it a full 5 stars, if the ending hadn't been so abrupt. A few too many unanswered questions. ( )

Piper Kincaid is age thirty when she is diagnosed with cancer. Her friend Becca, came to help take care of her. However, weak from the effects of the disease, Piper decides to end her chemotherapy.

Piper's mother left her when Piper was age fourteen. For a while Piper's father looked for his wife but then found someone new and moved in with her.

Piper keeps up her spirits and hopes as a teenager. At age fourteen she is noticed by one of her teachers and forms a relationship with him.

This is a well written story that deals with dispair, hope and lost goals. Piper is an excellent character who makes the reader sympathise with her and say a prayer that things will turn out well. ( )