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Every year in the dangerous forest outside the Protectorate village, a baby is left as an offering to the witch. The stories say she’s evil, and what she actually does with the child no one knows. They only hope the sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town.
Little do they realize that the old witch who lives in the forest is kind. Every year, she makes the trek to the little hollow among the trees where they leave the baby and carries the child to a faraway town at the other side of the forest where they can be loved and cared for by a new family. When she runs out of goat’s milk to feed them along the journey, she nourishes the babies with starlight.
One year, instead of starlight, the witch accidentally feeds a baby moonlight. Suddenly the ordinary child is filled with magic, and the only option the old witch has is to keep the girl, Luna, as her own grandchild.
Deep in the forest by the bog with her grandmama, a swamp monster named Glerk, and a tiny dragon called Fyrian, Luna grows up unaware of the power of her own magic. But on her 13th birthday when her magic begins to emerge, trouble arises that threatens both the Protectorate village and Luna’s safe world. Someone is determined to kill the evil witch and end the reign of sorrow over the village, and Luna’s magic might be the only thing that can save her grandmama and protect the strange little family she’s come to love.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a gem. Its pages are filled with a surprisingly complex plot; vivid, lyrical writing, and an utterly adorable story. I easily forgot about the slow beginning and found myself eagerly breezing through to the end.
While the premise can be disturbing — babies taken from their mothers and left to die — the tale wraps up with a poignant message about infinite love and the power sorrow can hold over us. It’s definitely a middle-grade novel I’d recommend for all ages, though I do think the writing style would appeal to a more mature, tween reader.
Rated: None. Includes some moments of peril.
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