The Ogress and the Orphans

Starred review from January 31, 2022
Before fires claimed its spaces of books and learning, Stone-in-the-Glen was a “lovely town... famous for its trees,” its abundance, its close-knit community, and its ample library (where even the librarians’ “shushes were lovely”). Following the fires, however, searing light, damaging floods, and anger and rumor become commonplace, and the cued-white human residents retreat behind locked doors and fences, goaded on by a self-interested,
isolationist mayor who sows a campaign of suspicion and fear. At the impoverished but love-filled Orphan House, 15 children reside alongside two elderly sweethearts and a fantastical reading room, doing their best to stretch their meager resources. When a “careful and considerate” ogress takes up residence at the town’s far edge, cultivating a garden and observing the town’s need, she begins delivering nourishing baked goods and boxes of vegetables to the residents overnight. Employing a benevolent, omniscient narrator (“Listen,” the voice urges) and a slowly unfurling, deliberately paced telling, Newbery Medalist Barnhill incorporates ancient stories, crow linguistics, and a history of dragonkind into an ambitious, fantastical sociopolitical allegory that asks keen questions about the nature of time, the import of community care, and what makes a neighbor. Ages 10–up. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

March 1, 2022
Stone-in-the-Glen used to be a joyful, cooperative place, but a disastrous library fire ushers in an era of divisiveness and suspicion. In parallel story lines, we learn about the dire situation of an orphanage that has lost its community support and the plight of a gentle ogress who lives on the fringes of town, an outcast. At the center of the plot is an evil mayor -- charismatic, manipulative, and powerful -- who considers the line between truth and lies to be "fuzzy." Offstage are dragons who are, in this world, not only benign but uniquely enlightened. A folksy, discursive first-person narrator (whose identity is the story's final reveal) keeps the tone lighthearted, but there are some genuinely frightening scenes, such as a standoff between an angry mob and the brave orphan who tries to defuse the situation using logic and facts. She fails. Unbowed, she marshals her resources. Can a bitter, irrational, brainwashed populace be brought to the light of reason by individual kindness, libraries, a flock of supportive crows, the gift of delicious pastries, and a "serious girl with long dark braids"? In this story, Barnhill (Newbery winner for The Girl Who Drank the Moon, rev. 9/16) answers with an energetic affirmative, making it one of the more buoyant of the fictional responses to "the Dark Days of a Certain Administration" and other ills of our time. Sarah Ellis

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from January 6, 2023

Gr 3-7-With her trademark style and grace, Newbery Medal-winning Barnhill (The Girl Who Drank the Moon) has once again transported readers into a world that will feel as familiar as their own. The Ogress has moved into the poverty-stricken town of Stone-in-the-Glen, and not all are happy about it. Everyone keeps to themselves and the last thing any of them want is to live next to an ogress. When she decides to start leaving presents for the townfolks, they are happy to accept them but still are not welcoming towards her. The only kindness she receives comes from the children of the Orphan House. When confronted with something terrible, will people believe in the Ogress, or will they keep to themselves and refuse to accept what they see and know about her? Beautifully written, full of moments that resonate deeply with readers, this book is simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful. It will challenge readers to consider whether they will stand up for others or are content to watch from the sidelines. Adults may see parallels in the contemporary real-world issues mirrored in the divide in this story; it allows readers to ponder our society and consider our responses to challenging situations. VERDICT A middle grade novel with heart, this one will be a hit with educators, parents, and students who will push through the injustices to favor hope.-Stephanie Charlefour

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 15, 2022
A once-idyllic town blames an outsider for its woes. Long ago, a fire claimed Stone-in-the-Glen's beloved Library, which started a sequence of events that eroded all of the nicest things about the town, changing the identity of the place and the townspeople alike as citizens grew suspicious and closed off from one another. When the town fails to support the Orphan House, one orphan runs away so as to not take more resources. Cass is rescued and brought back by the sweet-natured Ogress who lives on a farm at the edge of Stone-in-the-Glen. But her return is spied by a man who misunderstands and thinks the Ogress is abducting children, and the townspeople become riled up against the Ogress by the self-serving, strife-loving Mayor. When the adults won't listen to the children, they must find another way to help their generous neighbor and repair their broken community. The story's told from a broadly omniscient perspective through slow, thoughtful pacing. Readers will make connections before the characters do--especially regarding the true nature of the villain--and they are given narrative assurance of a happy ending. This offers young audiences security as they grapple with nuanced, realistic portrayals of people who are neither all good nor all bad. It also gives them space to form their own opinions on the book's philosophical and thematic questions, including the refrain: "The more you give, the more you have." Main human characters read as White. Combines realistic empathy with fantastical elements; as exquisite as it is moving. (Fantasy. 9-adult)

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Starred review from February 1, 2022
Grades 4-8 *Starred Review* Barnhill, who won the Newbery Medal for The Girl Who Drank the Moon (2016), makes no secret about her latest novel being a response to the current loss of kindness and neighborly values in American society. She applies the same fate to the once-idyllic village of Stone-in-the-Glen, which has been in steep decline since the burning of its library. The tragic loss of this seat of learning has caused the townsfolk to withdraw from public life and regard one another with suspicion. Then the withering of their fruit trees and crops likewise shrivels their impulses to share with their neighbors. This is the place to which readers are transported and meet the happy exceptions to Stone-in-the-Glen's misery: the children of the orphan house, the elderly couple who cares for them, and the Ogress, a shy and generous newcomer on the outskirts of the village. When a misunderstanding surrounding a runaway orphan results in an angry mob unjustly targeting the Ogress, the orphans know it's up to them to save the day. Barnhill's gift for storytelling immediately draws readers into this character-driven tale where dragons lurk, crows prove great friends, and an unusual narrator relays events with a unique perspective. These fairy-tale trappings cloak modern lessons and timeless ideals that readers will do well to take to heart, no matter their age.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2022
Stone-in-the-Glen used to be a joyful, cooperative place, but a disastrous library fire ushers in an era of divisiveness and suspicion. In parallel story lines, we learn about the dire situation of an orphanage that has lost its community support and the plight of a gentle ogress who lives on the fringes of town, an outcast. At the center of the plot is an evil mayor -- charismatic, manipulative, and powerful -- who considers the line between truth and lies to be "fuzzy." Offstage are dragons who are, in this world, not only benign but uniquely enlightened. A folksy, discursive first-person narrator (whose identity is the story's final reveal) keeps the tone lighthearted, but there are some genuinely frightening scenes, such as a standoff between an angry mob and the brave orphan who tries to defuse the situation using logic and facts. She fails. Unbowed, she marshals her resources. Can a bitter, irrational, brainwashed populace be brought to the light of reason by individual kindness, libraries, a flock of supportive crows, the gift of delicious pastries, and a "serious girl with long dark braids"? In this story, Barnhill (Newbery winner for The Girl Who Drank the Moon, rev. 9/16) answers with an energetic affirmative, making it one of the more buoyant of the fictional responses to "the Dark Days of a Certain Administration" and other ills of our time.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)