The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal)

The beloved, Newbery Medal-winning classic is now in paperback! With more than a million copies sold, The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a must-read for fans of timeless fantasy fables.

And coming in March 2022, an immersive new fantasy from Kelly Barnhill, The Ogress and the Orphans!

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 . . .

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400 pages

Average rating: 8.45

42 RATINGS

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4 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

littlemissalto
Jun 16, 2023
8/10 stars
A beautiful, thoughtful, and meaningful tale. 4.5/5 and a great 4th grade read aloud!
E Clou
May 10, 2023
10/10 stars
I loved this story, just loved the magic and the sorrow and the hope-- it's strangely very 2020 despite being written some years ago. Beautiful writing about love. I recommend it for adults and children alike. And high praise- the story reminds me a bit of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series.

But (I am so harsh but) so much of the story depended on the old- no one told anyone anything trope.
LAM
Sep 27, 2022
10/10 stars
Such an easy read. It was a calm for me especially when I felt over whelmed by life.
nvanalfen
Aug 11, 2022
9/10 stars
First off, I will admit and warn that the book isn't necessarily deep or clever, and the characters aren't the same complexity as the other books I recommend, but I rate it a 9 because it's a fun, entertaining read. It's a cute little fiction book with a bit of a dark plot. I normally like when magic is bounded by rules, but I'm ok with this book breaking that a little. It's fun to read a book set in its own little world, with its own rules, and where things are built on some supernatural foundation. Very cute book, easily worth the read.

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