Aloha book lovers! Ready for a fantastic tale? At our bookstore, people often recommend books to us. Some we have heard of and there are many we have not (which we quickly order in for the store). “The Girl Who
Aloha book lovers! Ready for a fantastic tale?
At our bookstore, people often recommend books to us. Some we have heard of and there are many we have not (which we quickly order in for the store). “The Girl Who Drank the Moon,” by Kelly Barnhill, was recommended to us by a customer (Thanks, E. L.!), and with its captivating tale, we knew this would be a good selection for our book review.
“The Girl Who Drank the Moon” is a multi-award-winning young adult fantasy story that reads like a classic fairy tale of old. People have compared it to Harry Potter, Peter Pan, and even the Oz stories.
However, “Girl” is a magical tale very much of its own. In the Protectorate (the land where the story is set), there is a witch who does good that most everyone thinks is bad. This good/bad witch however has made a mistake.
One of the children that the people of the Protectorate have put up for sacrifice (and as usual secretly saved by the same witch who instead fill the children with starlight and brings them elsewhere to families who will love them) has accidentally been filled with moonlight instead!
This error imbues the little child Xan with a palpable creative magic that sets her apart from most people. The witch decides to raise Xan herself, and from there, Xan’s journey begins.
With companions like a sagely swamp creature and a flitting friendly petite dragon, Xan’s life opens up to help a world she herself has barely ever known, with perils yet unimaginable to her.
While this is written for middle-schoolers, people of all ages have become engrossed in the story’s world, the prose, and its numerous characters. It is an escape you will always remember!
Enjoy the magic!
•••
Ed and Cynthia Justus are owners of The Bookstore in Hanapepe.
