Well, we all agree – today’s book is a Top Book of 2016 pick!
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is a delightfully original fantasy tale for middle grade readers featuring dragons, swamp monsters, magic, abandoned babies and a whole lot more. We received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review, but were unprepared for the complex and well-plotted story upon which we were about to embark. Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:
Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.
One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule–but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her–even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known.
And here’s what the Maniacal Book Club have to say on the topic…
Guru Dave
If a baby is left in the forest and no one is around, will anyone hear its plaintive cries? That depends on who you ask, according to the stories passed down in the Protectorate and the Free Cities. Perhaps it will be heard by a witch. Perhaps a saviour. Perhaps its heart-broken mother. If you were to ask a Guru, he might say that a special child like Luna will always find a way to have her voice heard by the people who matter. Even if that voice is silenced by loss and witchery.
To0thless
THERE IS A DRAGON IN THIS BOOK!!!! Fyrian is the dragon and he is tiny and funny and he is Luna’s pet but before that he was Xan’s pet. Xan is the witch and Fyrian calls her Aunty Xan. There is a sad story about what happened to Fyrian’s family but I can’t tell you what it is because Bruce says that would be spoiling it. Even though Fyrian is really tiny he turns out to be important in the end. I really liked Aunty Xan too and especially Glerk. Glerk is a swamp monster and also a poet.
I think kids who love adventure and dragons would like this book.
Mad Martha
Under the moon,
in a dark, hidden forest,
a baby is taken from her home.
Under the moon,
in a dark hidden forest,
a girl finds a home.
Under the moon,
in a dark, hidden forest,
a girl makes a home
in her heart.
Bruce
It’s a tricky thing these days to find a book – in any genre, for any age group – that feels like a breath of fresh air. The Girl Who Drank the Moon, while using some familiar themes from children’s literature, feels like it has been put together in a wholly new way.
The story is a complex mix of fantasy, family drama and socio-political tussle that plays out over the span of Luna’s young life, culminating in a satisfying finish in which the inner doubts and flaws of various characters are realised, overcome (in some cases) and incorporated into new lives, and we witness Luna’s transition to almost-adulthood.
There are a great range of original characters here, from Xan, the “witch” who does what she deems to be right despite not understanding why a certain city continues with a bizarre and seemingly useless ritual; there’s Glerk, the swamp monster who was born at the beginning of the world (or did he birth the world at the beginning?) and is Xan’s firm friend and resident poet; and Fyrian, the tiny dragon who thinks he is enormous and seems capable of nothing but pure love and joy for his odd little family. There is also an unexpected villain (about whom I shall say no more in order not to spoil things), a desperate, grieving mother who becomes far more than the madwoman she is branded to be and a pure-hearted, and a pure-hearted ordinary man who loves a pure-hearted ordinary woman and wants nothing more than to live a peaceful life in the bosom of his family.
Reflecting on this one, I can see some underlying themes of integrity in the midst of confusion, standing up for what’s right, even if it means standing alone, and the fact that great suffering can, in some cases, find great healing, given time and the right circumstances. While these themes aren’t laboured by the author, their inclusion gives this story depth and raises it above the level of your typical middle grade fantasy adventure. There are real lives playing out in this world of magic, and it’s a wonderful thing for authors to trust that young readers can handle difficult topics if they are presented with authentic characters.
I highly recommend this to adult readers as well as younger ones, as the story is one that defies being labelled with a particular age-grouping. We definitely suggest having a crack at this one if you are a fan of magic and fantasy in a context that doesn’t discount the need for characters that feel real and deep and developed.
Until next time,
Bruce (and the gang!)
The Bookshelf Gargoyle 