Middle-grade novel · Fiction
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Kelly Barnhill
About the book
A witch accidentally feeds moonlight to a baby, filling her with magic; years later, the girl's powers and a town's sorrow converge.
Reading notes
Lyrical fantasy with multiple viewpoints; best for confident readers. The premise involves babies left in the forest as a yearly sacrifice and a mother driven mad by grief.
This description was drafted with AI assistance and checked by a separate AI review against catalog, publisher and award sources on 2026-11-11. It has not been reviewed by a human editor. Report an error.
Recognition
- Newbery Medal (2017)
Recognition is listed from the awarding bodies’ published records. How we verify awards.
Book details
- Author
- Kelly Barnhill
- First published
- 2016
- Suggested ages
- Ages 10–14 (editorial estimate — children vary)
- Reading mode
- Confident reader
- Topics
- magic, family, fairy tale
- Edition shown
- ISBN 9781616205676 · Algonquin Young Readers, 2016 · Hardcover
- Catalog record
- Open Library work record · edition record
Metadata verified against Open Library on 2026-11-11. Other editions and formats exist; ISBNs differ by edition.
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