Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Algonquin Young Readers, 2016) by Kelly Barnhilll is unusual. It’s not told all in the viewpoint of a child main character–in fact we’re in the viewpoint of two adults, a swamp monster, and even a tiny dragon. The girl’s viewpoint comes later in the book.
The people in the village sacrifice the youngest born child each year to keep themselves safe from a witch. What they don’t know is that the witch is actually kind and she’s been rescuing these children and giving them to good homes on the other side of the forest. This time Xan keeps a baby girl, whom she names Luna. She raises her with the help of Glerk, a swamp monster, and Fyrian, a perfectly tiny dragon. To keep everyone safe from Luna’s magic, Xan locks it inside her until she’s thirteen. Meanwhile, a young man from the village plans to kill the witch.
I loved this epic story and had a hard time putting it down. And isn’t that a beautiful cover? The book has been put on a number of Best Book lists and is a New York Times bestseller.
The author describes herself on her website as: “Author. Teacher. Insufferable Blabbermouth. I also make pie.” Read more about her here. I haven’t read all of her books, yet, but besides this one, I’ve already recommended The Mostly True Story of Jack here.