Sofia is an 8-year-old brilliant reader who aspires to be a book reviewer. On select Saturdays, Sofia will share her favorite books with kids! She is one of the most well-read elementary schoolers that we know, so she is highly qualified for this role!
Dear readers,
Hi! Are you searching for a book that makes you sad and happy at the same time? Then The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill would be a good choice. This book has gotten a Newbery Medal. It is recommended for ages 10-14 on Amazon, but I think an eight or nine year old that is good at reading could read it too.
In the woods lives a witch called Xan. She is nice, but the people of the Protectorate think she will bring harm to their town. Every year the Protectorate takes the youngest baby in the town and puts it in a big stone circle in the woods. The Grand Elders (the mayors) never thought there was a witch and thought the baby was going to be eaten by animals. They are not correct because every year Xan comes to the stone circle and takes the baby to a welcoming city called a Free City.
They call the child that Xan brings a Star Child and treat the day she comes like a holiday. Xan feeds the babies starlight while she carries them to a Free City. One time though she accidentally feeds a baby moon light by which she enmagicks her. This is a quote from the book: “There is magic in starlight, of course. This is well known. Moonlight, however. That is a different story. Moonlight is magic. Ask anyone you like.” Xan decides she cannot leave this baby with an ordinary person, so she decides to raise her as her own and names her Luna.
Antain is a boy of the Protectorate and an “Elder in training” when this book starts and grows older. As he grows older he decides not to be an Elder, instead he becomes a well known carpenter. He gets married and this time his wife’s baby is the youngest in the Protectorate and it is getting close to the day they take the baby away from them…This book is told from several different points of view. For example: Xan, the kind witch, Luna, Xan’s child, and a Protectorate mother.
I love this book so much because it teaches that if you haven’t met a person you can’t really say anything about them even if you are pretty sure it’s true. I also like this book because of a dragon that thinks he is really big even though he is the smallest thing ever.
This year before the coronavirus I was walking through our school library and saw this book. I didn’t pay much attention to it. I am kind of sad and kind of glad about that because later in the year I looked at what it was about on Amazon and decided to buy it with my pocket money. It was a great purchase.
I am excited to check out this other book by the same author called The Witch’s Boy. I hope it is as good as The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Enjoy!
**Thank you, Sofia, for your continued brilliance. You inspire us!**
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