The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

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The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Kelly Barnhill

August 9, 2016 / 400 pages / Fiction

Book of
the Week

Winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal
The New York Times Bestseller

An Entertainment Weekly Best Middle Grade Book of 2016
A New York Public Library Best Book of 2016
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2016
An Amazon Top 20 Best Book of 2016
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2016
Named to KirkusReviews’ Best Books of 2016
2017 Booklist Youth Editors’ Choice

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. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children and delivers 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 girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna’s thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge--with dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Deadly birds with uncertain intentions flock nearby. A volcano, quiet for centuries, rumbles just beneath the earth’s surface. And the woman with the Tiger’s heart is on the prowl . . .

The Newbery Medal winner from the author of the highly acclaimed novel The Witch’s Boy.

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Family

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Grief

Fantasy world

Dystopian

Coming of age

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Winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal The New York Times Bestseller An Entertainment Weekly Best Middle Grade Book of 2016 A New York Public Library Best Book of 2016 A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2016 An Amazon Top 20 Best Book of 2016 A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016 A School Library Journal Best Book of 2016 Named to KirkusReviews’ Best Books of 2016 2017 Booklist Youth Editors’ Choice 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. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children and delivers 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 girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna’s thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge--with dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Deadly birds with uncertain intentions flock nearby. A volcano, quiet for centuries, rumbles just beneath the earth’s surface. And the woman with the Tiger’s heart is on the prowl . . . The Newbery Medal winner from the author of the highly acclaimed novel The Witch’s Boy.

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This book had a bit of a slow start but it was impressive how the storylines came together as the book went on. Enough twists and reveals to keep it interesting while still being an easy to follow story. The world-building was well done, although I wish some of the characters had a bit more depth. Despite it being the titular character, I actually cared the least about Luna's storyline. Still a creative, solid novel for both adults and children to enjoy.

Grade: B / HeathersCorner

/ Dec 18, 2017

A deeply realized magical world with a cast of fairytale-like characters who each have a little self-aware twist that encourages readers to reconsider tropes of the genre (the 'evil' witch is good, the 'protectorate' is bad, etc). I loved the world so much, & the writing style reminded me (in the very best way) of Diana Wynne Jones. Sometimes the exposition veered to the overly obscure (Xan's history) or repetitive (she is here she is here), but never so much that I lost my sense of wonder.

Grade: A / epaulettes

/ Mar 27, 2018

I truly understand how this won the Newberry. A beautiful, mystical, magical story with luscious writing. This book has witches, dragons and bog creatures. It deals with issues like lies, grief, love and power. The story is simple enough for a child to understand with enough depth and complexity for an adult to enjoy - and for both to come back to again and again and see something new or gain something more. This will surely become a classic.

Grade: A+ / bookishbunny / Jul 19, 2018

The setting is vivid and magical. The characters are both detailed yet mysterious. The combination of lighthearted fun and heavy themes works well. Considering that this is MG fic, the depth of evil has been kept low. It did make the climax a bit less effective, but I guess it would work for the kids. My only grouse is that the narration is too slow. Even though the imagery is fantastic, and I could visualize the entire story, I wanted it to be a little pacier.

Grade: B / Srivalli

/ Oct 24, 2021

Such a creative and adventurous MG novel. I was completely entranced by the world and characters created here, and I can’t lie- I shed some serious tears at the end. Audio book was well done.

Grade: A / MrsReganReads / Jan 13, 2022

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