The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

An ogress lived in the woods on her own.  When she found a rundown farm, she decided to settle there.  She created a periscope so she could look at the town.  That's how she found the orphanage and the children who lived there.

Algonquin Young Readers and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on March 8th.

The Mayor of the town was a dragon who took on a human skin and pretended to be human.  He caused a lot of problems.

The ogress baked, cooked and shared her food she grew on her farm.  It was appreciated by everyone.  But when one of the orphans decides to leave so there will be enough food for the others, she gets lost.  The ogress finds her and returns her to the orphanage.  The Mayor says she stole the child and gets the people in town to go against her.

The ogress gets her feelings hurt and goes home.  The children in the orphanage try to cheer her up.  And soon they work on the townspeople.  Desserts put them in a good mood and they didn't want her to leave now.

There are crows, cats, and sheep in the story.  The ending is great.  This was a good read.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Every year, a new baby is left in the woods.  It's said to be a sacrifice to the witch so their homes will be safe, but those leaving the baby behind assume animals get it.  Little do they know there is a witch...

Algonquin Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 9th.

The witch takes the babies to the free cities where families are happy to adopt them.  She thinks she's saving the babies but she doesn't know that someone in the city that sacrifices them lives off sorrow.  She tortures people, affects the weather and does all she can to fill her black heart.  She hides behind a nun's veil but she's pure evil.

I really enjoyed this story.  There is good and evil, magic, and even love in the story.  When Xan feeds the child the starlight to keep her nourished only she doesn't notice how late it's getting.  Before she notices, she's fed the baby moonlight and that changes everything.  She can't put her out for adoption, she's going to have to raise her herself and show her to use magic.  Good idea, but it doesn't work out.  The girl finds her magic at age 5 and doesn't understand a thing about controlling it.  Xan puts a spell on her to slow her down and allow her some maturity first.

Meanwhile, the girl's mother is in a tower as a prisoner of the nun who loves sorrow.  She's learned enough not to feed the nun and she's learned some magic from the years of being alone.  That will come in handy.

The young man that didn't want to leave the baby in the woods has changed his profession.  He's a carpenter now.  He's also married and his baby will be the next one that will go in the woods.  He's made up his mind that he's going first and he will kill the witch.  His uncle sends the nun after him as an assassin.

With all that going on, don't forget the bog monster and the perfectly tiny dragon.  They have their parts in this story, too.

This is an excellent fantasy read that I loved.  Why don't you give it a try?

The Witch's Boy by Kelly Barnhill

It all began when his twin brother drowned in the river.  Ned survived, Tam died.  And the village people said the wrong boy lived.  What they didn't know was that his mother, the witch, tied his twin's soul to his body so she still had both sons.  Just because it made Ned a stutterer and a bit slow didn't mean it was a bad thing, right?

Algonquin Young Readers and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published September 16th, so you can grab a copy then.

This is a fantasy novel that has some very different components to it.  It's unlike any other book I've read and it kept me interested all the way through.

Ned's mother is a witch and she gets her power from a magic jar.  She hides it under the floorboards and has to be very strict with it.  It would like to escape and it's always offering ideas on getting more money, a nicer place to live, etc.  If she ever accepts that, the magic can go free.  Another problem with the magic is that it never does exactly what you want it to do.  After all, it's magic, you know.

Ned realizes a man that hangs about the village must be a bandit.  He has a look about him that speaks of sneakiness.  Ned has also seen him steal things from folks in a shop by bumping into them on his way out.  When he gets a little too interested in Ned and his mother, he escapes him and goes home.  Unfortunately, the bandit comes back with his friends.  The worst part is that his mother isn't home.  When the bandits threaten his father, he goes to fetch the jar.  But he trips...

Suddenly Ned has the magic on his skin; there are words everywhere.  He has to run to escape the bandit who now wants to kill him to get control of the magic.  When he suddenly runs into a girl in the woods he's running through, he has no idea she's the bandit's daughter.  

Between the girl, the boy, the wolf and walking stones, there's lots of excitement, warring nations, and more.  It's a busy book with an interesting tale and I liked it.  Why don't you try it?