The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

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Figure 1. The Girl Who Drank the Moon book cover (2019).

Evaluation of Book

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill weaves multiple stories into one. For the past five hundred years, the Protectorate honored the Day of Sacrifice where the Elders place the youngest child in the forest because a witch demands it. No one knows what happens to the child, but many suspect the witch kills it. However, it turns out that the witch in the woods saves the child every year by feeding it goats mild and stars while taking it across to the other side of the forest to the Free Cities. These children are cherished and all grow up to be positive members of the community. However, one year the witch gives a baby part of the moon which changes everything.

The author does a splendid job at creating the setting for the story. First, the Protectorate drowns in sorrow due to the yearly sacrificing of children. Everything stays gray, with only the bog and trade to keep the people alive. And education is controlled by The Sisters of the Star, where Sister Ignatia reigns, deciding which girls get to stay and learn how to defend the ways of the town. The tower they live in also houses the jail at its top level. This is the way the Elders like things. Then, the Free Cities exist on the other side of the forest. The people there love each other, the children play games, and everyone openly trades to ensure all people live a good life. Also, the sun shines bright to help people, plants, and animals grow and be happy. And last, the forest comes alive in this story. The bog runs through it along with heat belching up through mud, the ground turning to quicksand, and other horrible things. However, some of the forest remains safe, one just needs to know where to walk and climb. It all comes together in this magical story about a girl who gets to experience and love all three places.

Another fabulous aspect of the book is the plot. The beginning of the book makes you think that things might be all doom and gloom because of the Protectorate allowing the Day of Sacrifice. However, at no time at all, Xan, the witch, wins over the reader by protecting all the children sacrificed. Plus, the fact that they get to be the Star Children, drinking from stars as they travel across the forest, makes everything right as rain. Especially since the people in the Free Cities love the orphaned children as their own. And when Luna gets to drink from the moon and be enmagiced, the reader knows something amazing will happen. But there turns out to be even more to the story. Every few chapters, a story gets told about events that started five hundred years ago. And these stories plus the present-day story intertwine, bringing about hope and love along with acceptance of consequences.

Musical language also plays a part in the story. Throughout the story of Luna growing up, Glerk, the creature of the bog, sites poems that explain how the world works. His poems tell of the beginnings of time and how the world they live in came to exist. They also give nuggets of wisdom about needing patience and what should exist in a world that makes sense. Also, his role as the creator of all allows for love to exist even during despair, as his last poem in the last chapter explains.

Response

While reading The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, the story tickled my brain about how life can be what you make it. Antain, a person that questioned the ways of the Protectorate, helped his town become a better place. He was one voice, joined by the love of his wife, and they made a difference together through their positive outlook on life. Since a child, this concept has been taught to me through my parents and school. We make choices and try to help others see the good in the world and how to make good things happen; therefore, it agrees with my views. And the fanciful story of gaining magic by drinking part of the moon along with all of the positive turns in the plot, despite the horrors playing out in the Protectorate, allowed me to enjoy the text. In fact, there were times that I could have sworn this story was a picture book due to how vivid I could see everything in my mind’s eye. And it definitely addresses things that I care about like actions always have consequences and good can be found, even when loss occurs.

Conclusion

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill is a wonderful book for everyone that enjoys truth and goodness winning out in the end. The crazy adventures of Luna and Xan with Glerk and their dragon friend Fyrian will enchant anyone who reads it. Out of four stars, this book earns all four.

Citation

Barnhill, K. (2016). The girl who drank the moon. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers.

Willis, C. (2019). The girl who drank the moon book cover (photo). Retrieved April 28, 2019 from

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xucptLGtFW8nz5A6KhcMGPNAGgfsniYr/view?usp=sharing