Fiction, Fantasy & YA: The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The Girl Who Drank the Moon
By Kelly Barnhill

Barnhill, Kelly Regan. The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers, 2016. 9781616205676

Plot Summary

Each year, on the Day of Sacrifice, the elders of the Protectorate leave the youngest baby as an offering to the witch in the forest. Each year, Xan travels from her home in the Bog to the child, taking it to safety in the Free Cities. As she travels with the children each year, Xan feeds them starlight. One year, Xan rescues a child who ends up capturing her heart. Distracted by her love for this child, Xan accidentally feeds the child moonlight, instead of starlight. The child had become enmagicked. Xan names the child Luna and raises her as her grandaughter along with the help of Glerk, the Swamp Monster who is older than magic itself and Fyrian the Simply Enormous dragon who was truly Perfectly Tiny. As Luna grows older, her magic starts to leak out, wreaking havoc on poor Xan, who has noticed that her own magic is depleting. After casting a spell that puts Luna's magic at rest until she turns thirteen, Xan is determined to teach Luna all she knows about the world and magic. Unfortunately, the spell worked too well. At any mention of magic, Luna's eyes go black and her mind goes blank. Not to be deterred, Xan, Glerk, and Fyrian continue her education. Other story lines coincide with Luna's as she grows stronger each day. Antain, a boy from the Protectorate who grows into a man, comes to the conclusion that the only way to stop the witch from stealing children is to kill her. The story climaxes with all parties meeting together and finding a way to help each other overcome the fates that they were given.

Analysis

Kelly Barnhill has crafted a world that is delightful, mysterious, a bit scary, but full of hope. Xan, Glerk, Fyrian, Luna, and Antain have stories that are complex and full of mysteries that the reader must piece together as the characters themselves learn new information. Because of Xan's spell, Luna has gaps in her memory. Because of the trauma of leaving a child behind when he was a young boy and believing her to be dead, Antain learns to deal with his guilt and fight for the life he truly desires. Xan learns to accept the fate that she chose for herself. Each character is connected in some way, and as the story progresses, readers realize these connections. Just as information is hidden from the characters, it is hidden from the readers. This creates a mounting feeling of anticipation and makes the book difficult to put down. the theme of this story is to accept your fate and live your life full of happiness and love for others. Though your life may be full of struggles, as the people of the Protectorate struggled, they learned to feel hope again and began to thrive. This book serves as a teenage version of high fantasy. Barnhill has created a new world with fantastical story elements and characters that are sure to delight readers both young and old. Humor, despair, love, and loss are felt by the characters and the readers as they unpack this fun and fantastic story of a girl who drank the moon.

One reviewer from the Publishers Weekly said, "Via intricately woven chapters that follow Luna, her unusual family, the devious Grand Elder of the Protectorate, his honorable nephew and niece, the mysterious Sister Ignatia, and a sympathetic “madwoman” in a tower, Barnhill delivers an escalating plot filled with fore shadow ing, well-developed characters, and a fully realized setting, all highlighting her lyrical storytelling. As the characters search for family, protect secrets, and seek truth, they realize that anything can happen in the woods—when magic is involved."

“The Girl Who Drank the Moon.” 2016. Publishers Weekly 263 (49): 78. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=119832992&site=ehost-live.

Awards

John Newberry Medal

Connections

Reviewers have claimed that the audiobook for this story is very well done, so it is recommended that readers try listening to the audiobook for a change of pace.

For other fantastical coming-of-age stories:

Beatty, Robert: Serafina and the Black Cloak. 9781484709016

Milford, Kate: Greenglass House. 9780544052703

Connolly, John: The Book of Lost Things. 9780743298858

 

Fiction, Fantasy & YA: Bone Gap

Bone Gap
By Laura Ruby

Ruby, Laura. Bone Gap. New York, NY: Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2015. 9780062317605

Plot Summary

Finn O'Sullivan and his older brother Sean live alone on their farm in Bone Gap. They used to have Roza before she disappeared. The people of Bone Gap claim that she left, just like their mother did, but Finn knows the truth. Roza was taken and Finn has been taken by grief. No one believes him. No one understands his description of the man who looks like everyone and "moves like a cornstalk in the wind". No one, except Priscilla "Petey" Willis. One night, when searching for his pregnant cat Calamity Jane, Finn discovers a beautiful black mare in his old leaning barn. He jumps on the mare, and the mare takes him to Petey's house. As they form a friendship that soon blossoms into something stronger, Roza wakes up in a mysterious place where everything feels too perfect and finds herself imprisoned by the man that Finn saw. This man is determined that Roza will learn to love him, coming each day to ask her, "Do you love me yet?" Roza can only ask him why and he always replies "You are the most beautiful." Finn, still searching for signs of Roza, and Petey, still wondering how Finn could love someone like her, stumble across a mystical feeling when riding the mare one night. The earth widened and the air shimmered and it felt as if another world had invaded their own. As time goes on, Finn begins to suspect that the shimmering gap, from which Bone Gap gets its name, must be a gap in the universe and Roza must be trapped inside. He travels into the gap to save her, but she in turn saves him and they walk free together. Finn had learned to love and live with his disabilities, Petey had learned to let someone love her, Roza had learned how to fight for herself, and Sean had learned how to let his guard down as each of their stories come together in a happy ending. 

Analysis

Bone Gap is full of hope and despair, love and forgiveness. Laura Ruby skillfully reveals pieces of the story as the characters make revelations about themselves and their situations. Each character has a unique voice and perspective, which is shown in the varying chapters that switch between Finn, Roza, Petey, and Sean. Switching between characters has allowed Ruby to show sides to the story that might not have been possible if it were told only form Finn's perspective. Readers can relate to Finn's struggle with his identity and his own self-loathing at what he thinks is his fault. He blames himself for Roza's disappearance, not realizing that there is a reason that it happened. In the story, Petey reveals that Finn must have face blindness, which explains how he had tried to describe the man who took Roza. It also causes Petey to feel like Finn only likes her because she is ugly and he can recognize her face. Readers who have ever experienced heartbreak will feel their hearts breaking along with Petey and Finn as they struggle to work out the problems that they face. Roza's determination to survive despite her terrible circumstances is inspiring and her character is more complex than it is first thought. Even Finn realizes that there is more to her than he thinks, that she saved his life by going with the man when she was taken. Each character is strong in their own way and vivid, but also flawed. This creates a realistic setting that readers can relate to and strive to be a part of. This book is captivating and intriguing, and hard to put down. The theme of the story is to keep your heart and your eyes open to yourself and others, and remember that beauty is found within.

Sammie Steward, wrote for the School Librarian saying "Part magical realism, part coming-of-age and part mystery, this is a consistently inventive and constantly surprising story which ultimately revolves around a simple but powerful message: beauty is never just skin deep."

Awards

Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature

Connections

This book was recommended as an audiobook, though it was difficult to find an available copy. Readers would delight in the narration of this story, as Ruby wrote each character to be conversational and expressive. (This book is highly recommended by myself, though it is difficult to succinctly explain why).

For other fantastical adventures with strong characters:

Goss, Theodora: The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. 9781534409637

Beaty, Erin: The Traitor's Kiss. 9781250117946

Roux, Madeleine: House of Furies. 9780062498618

 

Fiction, Fantasy & YA: Lost & Found

Lost & Found
By Shaun Tan

Tan, Shaun. Lost & Found. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2011. 9780545229241

Plot Summary

Lost & Found consists of three short stories. The first story, called The Red Tree, follows a lonely girl through her sad day. She starts her day by thinking "things go from bad to worse" and feels darkness following her like a great fish overhead. Nobody understands and her troubles fall on deaf ears as she waits, and waits, and waits but nothing ever happens. All her troubles come at once as her life passes her by. The day feels like it might end as it began, but when she returns home she finds a beautiful red tree growing in her room, just as she imagined it would be.

The second story, called The Lost Thing, is a story about how a boy met a lost thing and helped it find a new place in the world. The boy walked along the beach, searching for bottle-tops, when he saw the lost thing with a "sad, lost sort of look". They talked together and played together, and the boy decided that he would help the lost thing find its way back home. Together they searched high and low, asking anyone they met if they knew where the lost thing had come from. No one could help them. The boy took the lost thing home, but he knew it couldn't stay in his shed forever. He thought "it was a real dilemma". After following the advice of an advertisement in the paper and being deterred by a helpful stranger who showed them a card with an arrow on it, the boy and the lost thing decided to try following the arrows. They followed the arrows to a hidden place that was full of other lost things that weren't so lost anymore. None of the things really belonged there, but they were happy enough and maybe that was all that really mattered.

The third story, called The Rabbits, details how the rabbits came many grandparents ago. They looked a little bit like the other animals, but they didn't "understand the right ways". They only knew their own country, and they made their own houses and used their own language. They kept coming on boats and spread across the country; nothing could stop them. Sometimes the other animals fought, but there were too many rabbits and the animals lost the fights. The rabbits ravished the environment and stole their children. The rich, dark earth disappeared, and the land was bare and brown. Who will save them from the rabbits?

Analysis

Shaun Tan, both the author and illustrator of this graphic novel has written three stories that don't appear to be connected at first glance but share a deeper meaning. According to himself, each story is about the relationship between people and places and how that relationship can be disrupted by physical displacement, emotional disconnection, or a troubled sense of identity. These three stories are low fantasy, with fantastical machines and personified animals throughout. His characters are well crafted and each radiates a different emotion that readers can identify with. In The Red Tree, the little girl is drawn feeling very sad and lonely, but hopeful in the end. In The Lost Thing, the lost thing makes noises that convey human emotions like happiness and apprehension. In The Rabbits, the animals from whom the story's perspective is based on show fear and righteous anger towards the rabbits.

The theme of these three stories are not as typical for a fantasy novel. There is no good or evil, unless you count the invasive rabbits. There is no power struggle, or wonderful quest that they must complete. Instead, the theme of these three stories focuses on the self and the battles within. In The Red Tree, the girl deals with her identity and sadness, in The Lost Thing, the boy and the lost thing work together to find where the lost thing fits into the world, and in The Rabbits, the animals deal with the loss of their way of life. Shaun has tackled complicated themes and has risen to the task well. He illustrated each story in a way that brought the characters and surrounding world out of the pages. Some pages are simple and some are filled to to bursting. Each time that these stories are read, more details will be noticed as readers focus more on the illustrations and less on the words.

Jonathan Hunt with Horn Book Magazine wrote, "Since something in each story is both lost and found, the title perfectly captures the thematic connection. And Tan’s superb artwork— quirky, surreal, paradoxically inviting and alienating—is tailored to each story without any loss of his signature style."

Hunt, Jonathan. 2011. “[Lost & Found].” Horn Book Magazine 87 (3): 77–78. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518530148&site=ehost-live.

Awards

Aurealis Conveners' Award for Excellence for The Rabbits

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Winner for The Rabbits

Spectrum Gold Award for Book Illustration for The Rabbits

Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, Writing for Young Adults award, Shortlisted for Lost Thing

Ditmar Award, Artwork, Winner for The Lost Thing

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for The Lost Thing

Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, Children's Books, Shortlisted for Red Tree

Children's Book Council of Australia, Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for The Red Tree

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature Winner for Red Tree

Connections

Shaun Tan has written several other books, such as The Arrival and Rules of Summer that readers can explore if they enjoyed his artwork and storytelling.

For other graphic novels that explore unique themes:

Deutsch, Barry: How Mirka Got Her Sword. 9780810984226

For a darker set of stories:

Gorey, Edward: Amphigorey. 9780399504334

Stiefvater, Maggie: Swamp Thing: Twin Branches. 9781401293239