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The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The Girl Who Drank the Moon

By Kelly Barnhill

Overview: This story begins in a town called the Protectorate. Every year, for hundreds of years, the "Day of Sacrifice" comes and the youngest baby of the town is left in the forest for an evil witch to claim. If the town does not leave a baby, the town will be destroyed by the witch. Or so all of the townspeople are told by the elders of their town. This turns out to not be the truth at all, and the elders are just trying to keep the town in submission by having them live in fear and sorrow. However, there is a witch in the woods: a good witch and her name is Xan. Every year on the same day, Xan travels outside of the city of the Protectorate where she finds a baby. She does not know why the mother has abandoned the child, but she does know that the baby needs to be taken care of. So, she collects the baby and brings the children year after year to the Free Cities on the other side of the Bog, her home.  

On one of these trips, while attempting to feed the baby Starlight (which is satisfying and harmless to babies in this magical realm), she accidentally feeds the baby Moonlight. Moonlight, as it turns out, is basically pure magic and as a result of drinking the magic, the baby, later named Luna by Xan, becomes "enmagicked". Xan decides to keep the girl and raise her as a granddaughter because her magic would become dangerous to herself and others if she was not taught how to use it properly. 

Surrounded by friends who soon become family in the Bog, Luna grows and becomes an inquisitive and beautiful little girl. But as she grows, so does her magic. In order to keep it contained, Xan puts a spell on Luna that contains her magic until she is 13 years old so that Xan can teach her how to use it well. But as a consequence, Luna cannot learn about magic at all. Her mind and memory shut down whenever a reference to magic is made. Because of this, Luna grows up not understanding who she is and what she would soon be capable of. 

Meanwhile, there is a witch, an evil witch, living among the people of the Protectorate as an elder and she feeds on the sorrow of the families who grieve for their lost children. This is how she lives and has lived for the past 500 years. Luna and Xan discover this and with the help of their friends are able to life the Protectorate from the terrible fog of sorrow that they have been living in for as long as they could remember.

Review: I definitely enjoyed reading this book, and I think that 5th and 6th graders would too. In my opinion, the story seemed to move slowly and the way it is written did not make it an incredibly easy read, but it did make it enjoyable. It is 386 pages long which could be daunting to young readers, but the chapters are short and each one leaves you wanting to read on. 

Awards: A Bluebonnet Award Book & A Newbery Award Book.


-The Green Eyed Reader
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