Guarding the Moon

Guarding the Moon is young adult author Francesca Lia Block's poetic nonfiction book, detailing her experiences in the first year of being a mother.

Her daughter, Jasmine, is the subject of this book (though her name is mentioned only once in the actual text; all through the narrative she is referred to by fifty-odd nicknames).

Here she gives us a story of pain, fear, wonder, sadness, and love, centered around her baby girl and her family and personal life, including touching recollections of her own adolescence, her struggles with eating disorders, her changing self-image, her miscarriages, her experiences with yoga and nursing, and her own relationship with her mother. Reading this book gives one a powerful understanding of what being a mother is like for one unique woman, and most readers will see pieces of themselves in her experience.