The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Written by Kelly Barnhill
Published by Algonquin Young Readers, 2016, 386 pp
ISBN: 978-1-61620-567-6
“A story can tell the truth, she knew, but a story can also lie.”
–Ethyne, p.309
Each year one child is sacrificed to the evil witch in the forest so as to keep the Protectorate safe. But is that the real story? Is that the truth? Each year the youngest member of the Protectorate is left in the woods and they do not return, so the story is considered true. Yet, babies are not taken by an evil witch, but by wise and magical Xan, who takes each baby, feeds them starlight and promptly adopts them to families in the Free Cities on the other side of the forest. What is wrong with the people of the Protectorate who would leave a child out in the forest to die? This is the dilemma at the center of the marvelous Newbery-winning novel that has readers thinking over and over again about the ways of the world, the issue of power and what deceitful people will do to keep their power.
One year when Xan rescues a baby girl from the forest, she is distracted by the baby’s soulful eyes and inadvertently feeds the baby moonlight and not starlight, which Xan has fed to every other child left in the woods in the past. The moon is magical, so much more magical than starlight, and Luna, whom Xan adopts as her own, is a truly magical child. Luna’s magic is too strong for such a young child so Xan casts a spell to keep Luna from understanding or knowing about magic until she turns 13. As Luna grows, so does the balance of life within the Protectorate as significant individuals make life choices that will change the world.
Through The Girl Who Drank the Moon, readers enter a magical world that may seem very different from their own, but upon closer examination, is all too familiar to the way “news” and stories often serve hidden agendas. With scenarios and characters that present both faulty decision-making and questioning of the status quo, readers see the impasse between ethical action and evil. Each of the major characters is given at least one opportunity to make a positive change in the world. What each decides to do, and for what reasons, gives readers insight into their own lives and communities as well as the world.
In addition to a plot that explores how power and perspective work together to create reality, readers will be enchanted by the wondrous characters that inhabit Luna’s and Xan’s world. Glerk, the swamp monster who created the world, and chipper Fyrian, a perfectly tiny dragon, help Xan raise Luna to become a thoughtful and cheerful young magician who must carry on the knowledge she knows about the good in the world.
Works that would complement this text include The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (2016) and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (2018), both of which address hidden agendas, magic, lies and truth, but perhaps for older readers. The book is a great example of a modern fairytale, and would pair nicely with Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (2017), which also features a young girl who finds herself in a magical place where her hidden talents must be discovered. Girl Who Drank the Moon would also pair well with Wishtree by Katherine Applegate (2017) or The Witch’s Boy also by Kelly Barnhill (2015), as both could be determined modern fairytales.
Kelly Barnhill has written a number of other books for young people as well as a volume of short stories for adults. She lives in Minneapolis, MN, and is married to an architect and has three children. Prior to her life as an author, she was a park ranger and a teacher, among other things. When she is not writing, a couple of her pastimes include running and hiking. More information about Kelly can be found at: http://www.kellybarnhill.com/.
Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
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