A Map of Sibton Park
(or "plan" as they say in England)

If you are new to this site: this shows a map and pictures of the boarding school in Blow Out the Moon. (I have photographs because I
really went to that boarding school!). If you've already read the book, you've seen the plan -- but not the color pictures. We couldn't
put those in the book, so I put them here instead. I'm going to put up more.


If someone stood in the Upper Garden, this is the part of the house she would see. If you look carefully at the pictures and plan, you can see (or figure out) which part of the house shows in this view AND in the photograph of the house and Lower Garden. Scroll if you want a hint......and all of these are probably more interesting to people who have read the book!

The big meadow.


This is the Lower Garden and side of the house as they look after you go up the paddock steps and walk a little. Scroll down to see a big color picture of the the Lower Garden.

 

*The Night Nursery and Nursery were in the back of the house; when you looked out their windows, you saw fields. Nelson was in the front part of the house; when you looked out its windows, you saw the driveway and the wall; on the other side of the wall was the road to the village.

 

 

 

 

 


Above: The wall, gate, driveway. and part of the
house you can see from the road.
Below: The driveway and front of the house, from just
inside the gate (scroll right to see it all):

 

This picture really gives the BEST idea of the steps, the Upper Garden, and the back corner of the house. The paddock where we had riding lessons
is at the bottom of the steps -- you can only see the grassy edges. The girls are wearing the coats and hats we wore to church in the fall and winter.

.

And INSIDE the house:a dorm, as it looks when you stand in the doorway, and another dorm dorm as it looks from down the hall (or "corridor," as
they would call it.

Scroll right to see the rest (our coats in the closet); click the
picture to make it bigger.
This is what an eighth-grader wrote about Blow Out the Moon in a kids-only paper called Just Books:

"This tale of a young girl's voyage to England and the total difference in life styles is fascinating. Libby doesn't want to move to England, she wants to stay with her friends, especially with Henry. Libby is fascinated by the long boat ride, but when she reaches England Libby isn't happy. She longs for the sunshine and her American life. The people at school aren't nice and Libby wants to leave, until she finds Sibton Park, an English boarding school for girls, and one boy. It offers horseback riding lessons, and to Libby's horror, table manners. Libby's joyous times at Sibton Park make you laugh out loud and her funny point of view is great. Sibton Park comes alive as you read this interesting, funny story of Libby Koponen's childhood." -- eighth grader writing in Just Books.

It's in lots of bookstores and -- in some places -- you can get it at the library. If your library doesn't have it, they can probably order it for you.

Or you can order Blow Out the Moon from amazon, barnesandnoble, etc. If you read it, please write and tell me what you think! I'll write back, I promise.

 

You can read the first seven chapters online now (scroll a little to see the links if they're not showing).

 

If you like the book and see it in a bookstore,and it's on a shelf
with just its spine showing, PLEASE TURN IT FACE OUT! By
"face out," I mean -- so the cover shows!

If you DO turn it face out for me, please email me
(Libby@ifyoulovetoread.com) and tell
me you have so I can write and thank you. Whenever the cover shows,
more people see it and look at it.

Go to the first chapter

 

Go back to the list of chapters and stories

 

There and Back Again (memoir), Blow Out the Moon (novel), and ifyoulovetoread.com copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 Libby Koponen. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the author.

To anyone who went to Sibton Park: I had to take the rest of the chapters down -- but I will be happy to email the Sibton Park chapters to you if you would like to see them.

Blow Out the Moon (former title There and Back Again) copyright © 1999, 2000 Libby Koponen. All rights reserved. The pictures of ocean li ners are from the collection of Kevin R. Tam. Used with permission.


The book has been published by Little, Brown and it's online at
amazon.

It's in many bookstores and libraries, too.