The Girl Who Drank the Moon-Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon, a Newbery Medal winner, is a enchanting and deeply layered fantasy that begins with a cruel tradition. Every year, the people of the Protectorate, a town shrouded in perpetual sorrow and fear, leave their youngest baby as an offering to a terrifying witch they believe lives in the surrounding forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from destroying their community. However, the witch in the forest, named Xan, is anything but terrifying; she is kind, gentle, and utterly bewildered by these abandoned infants.

Xan, along with her companions—a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon named Fyrian—rescues these children and delivers them to loving families in the Free Cities on the other side of the forest, nourishing them with starlight on the journey. But one fateful year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, imbuing the ordinary child with extraordinary and raw magic. Recognizing the immense power within her, Xan decides she must raise this "enmagicked" girl, whom she names Luna, as her own. To protect Luna from her own unwieldy magic, Xan places a spell on her, suppressing her powers until her thirteenth birthday.

As Luna's thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to surge, threatening to overwhelm her and even drain Xan's own life force. Simultaneously, a young man from the Protectorate, driven by a desire to free his people from their endless sorrow, sets out to kill the witch. As these destinies converge, the novel beautifully weaves together multiple perspectives and timelines, revealing the true nature of good and evil, the power of secrets, and the profound strength of love and connection. The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a poignant and magical tale about growing up, finding one's power, and understanding that things are rarely as they seem.

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