2017 Newbery Medal Winner: The Girl Who Drank the Moon

A story can tell the truth, she knew, but a story can also lie. Stories can bend and twist and obfuscate. Controlling stories is power indeed.

Deep in the bog lies the Protectorate, an isolated city shrouded in sorrow and misery. For the downtrodden people of the Protectorate believe that they are at the mercy of a cruel and evil witch who demands a yearly sacrifice of their youngest child.  Yeah, that sounds like a delightful children's book! I confess that as the mother of four, the youngest of which is only eight months old, I had difficulty reading portions of The Girl Who Drank the Moon. It was far too easy to empathize with the despair and madness experienced by Luna's mother when she is forced to surrender her infant to the elders.

The premise of The Girl Who Drank the Moon actually reminded me slightly of The Hunger Games (albeit a fantastical, less bloody version). Obviously, both stories involve the government requiring the people to sacrifice their own children for the "greater good". Like those in the districts, the subjugated people of the Protectorate are hopeless, impoverished, and controlled by fear.


I promise that The Girl Who Drank the Moon is not all doom and gloom, though. There is a witch who lives in the forest, but Xan is kind and generous. Not knowing why the people of the Protectorate abandon their children, Xan rescues the babies and gives them to loving homes on the other side of the forest in the free cities. One year during the journey to the free cities, Xan feeds a baby girl moonlight and imbues her with magical powers. Knowing that the infant will eventually need to be trained in the art of magic Xan decides to raise the child, whom she names Luna, as her own granddaughter. Luna, Xan, a silly little dragon named Fyrian, and Glerk, an ancient and wise swamp monster live happily together in the forest until circumstances force them to confront the true evil that reigns in the Protectorate.

I know that I compared it to The Hunger Games (loosely) and, no doubt, there is some weighty subject material in The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Also, Barnhill's sophisticated prose and frequent flashbacks throughout the book may prove challenging for younger readers. Despite these issues I believe The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a beautifully written story that will enchant children, teens, and adults.