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The Girl Who Drank the Moon

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The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

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By Kelly Barnhill

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30 reviews

THE NO 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER

‘This beautifully written, darkly funny coming-of-age story will enchant and entertain’ Daily Mail

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 in fact a good witch who 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.

Reviews

08 Jan 2024

An really boring book

13 Jan 2023

Warm and immersive. Loved it!

10 Aug 2022

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes magic.

04 Aug 2022

This is a great book, although I did get a little bored of it towards the middle, I continued and the ending is just fantastic.

04 Jul 2022

Really nice story
It includes magic( A lot of it!!!!!!!)!

19 Jun 2022

Yes, I heartily recommend this book. Classic elements of the fable, such as the good witch and the bad witch, in an original, timeless plot. The story is told in a fairly linear fashion with some flashbacks and lots of surprising twists; not hard to follow and yet "impossible to put down" indeed (the New York times book Review).

01 Jan 2022

This is really good!

21 Dec 2021

This book was amazing because there are so many adventures and it was so exciting.
My favorite character was Luna because she is so powerful and because of her crescent moon birthmark which made her very special.
I like the part when the paper birds came to life. I liked Fyrian because he was so beautiful as he had multicolored wings.
I also liked the part when Luna broke the pearl of sorrow inside sister Ignatia's heart which weakened her.
I would definitely recommend this book to children who like to read about magic, mystery, and surprises.

21 Dec 2021

This book was amazing because there are so many adventures and it was so exciting.
My favorite character was Luna because she is so powerful and because of her crescent moon birthmark which made her very special.
I like the part when the paper birds came to life. I liked Fyrian because he was so beautiful as he had multicolored wings.
I also liked the part when Luna broke the pearl of sorrow inside sister Ignatia's heart which weakened her.
I would definitely recommend this book to children who like to read about magic, mystery, and surprises.

19 Aug 2021

This book was increadible, I love it so much. 😃 It described the character so well, I could see them in my mind as I read. My favourite character was Luna because I loved how she had moon light magic. I would recommend this book to someone who liked dragons, witches and swamp monsters.

23 Oct 2020

A nice little read.
Poetic and with a nice message, don't believe everything you hear and try and make up your own opinion.

20 Oct 2020

This is about a girl called luna who accidently was fed moonlight instead of starlight from the witch who takes children from the mysterious protectorate

03 Sep 2020

It was a good book it was a tiny bit scary but it was a very mysterious book. Also it had lots of adventure in it

01 Sep 2020

Magic, a bit crazy but very good.

17 Aug 2020

A good book, magically the book transported me to a world were the moon shines brightly every night.

17 Aug 2020

It is about a girl who was taken from her family and put in a ring of sycamore trees. She was taken by a witch who was kind to her and accidentally fed her moonlight which made her magical.

16 Aug 2020

It was the best book I have ever read. My favourite character is 100% Luna nd I would recommend it to anybody who loves magic, adventure, and awesome books!

07 Aug 2020

This is one of my favourite books - I love all the magic and excitement in it! The character I liked most is probably Luna, as she is clever, and even when she is in danger, Luna still tries to find a person she loves. I would recommend it to people who love thrills, magic and mystery!

05 Aug 2020

Entertaining and emotional

05 Aug 2020

I loved reading this book! Its such a heartwarming story full of magic and mystery! I couldn't put it down!
Every year, the people of Protectorate hold a day of sacrifice. These people take the youngest baby away form their families and leave it in the depths of the woods, hoping the Witch accepts the newborn and leaves the town free of attacks. But the witch is actually kind and cares for these abandoned babies, travelling through the woods to the cities on the other side. During the journey, the witch feeds the babies starlight, which nourishes them as milk would do.
One year, the witch feeds a baby moonlight by accident, and the girl becomes magical. The witch decides she must raise this child as her own. She names her Luna and raises her. All of her life, Luna hasn't known about her dreadful babyhood, and 'Grandmama Xan' eventually realises that Luna's magic is very powerful and she doesn't realise. As Luna's 13th Birthday approaches, her magic grows stronger...Will Xan tell Luna before it is too late? Read this fabulous book to find out!!!

04 Aug 2020

I loved this book because it is very magical and it is complicated so you can choose which bit you like best and you don't have to like all the different story lines. But, you should read all of the story because the different bits grow on you. My favourite character is Fyrian because he is very funny and it is almost as if he has a story line of his own.

02 Aug 2020

i liked this book a lot however i did not like how sad the ending is

15 Jul 2020

It was an emotional story but also very exciting, my favorite character was Xan because she was just a kind and gentle woman who helped others. Her character was a loving person, who looked for people that could adopt a child. Mixed with fantasy, magic and witches and the story was just amazing. I would recommend this book to 8+ because it can be exciting but also has its traumatic events.

27 Jun 2020

I liked this book because it had magic and a girl who was rescued by the kind witch in the woods, she is then accidentally turned magical by the witch and must be raised and understand how to control her powers.

25 Jun 2020

It was very mysterious as well as very fictional. My favorite character is Xan because at the start she was a great witch who would send babies to the Free Cities, although she made a mistake and gave a baby moon dust, she could still look after Luna. I would recommend it to people because this book was an absolute thriller in my opinion!

05 Jun 2020

This is a fantasy story. My favourite character is Luna and I think she is very brave. At first it didn't interest me, but when I dug deep into the story I didn't want to stop reading. I wish there was a sequel. I say this story is 11+.

27 Jul 2018

This book is a real page turner I didn't want to stop reading. My favorite character was Fyrian. This tiny dragon thinks he's huge but actually he's so small he can fit into Luna's pocket! He made me laugh so much and I would defiantly recommend this book to others because of how much thought Kelly Barnhill put into it, and how she described the charters personalities.

25 Jul 2018

The book is great for people who like stories that are like magic!

26 Mar 2018

A mystical, sweet story about deep magic.One of my favourites.

26 Nov 2017

I loved this book with all my heart. Luna, the protagonist, is incredibly lovable, and the motherly love between her and the witch is so sweet. Though the quality of writing is a little rough around the edges, this is made up for in the fantastic storyline.

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