The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

 

When I saw that Kelly Barnhill had a new middle grades book out, I couldn't add it to my cart fast enough. I read and loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon a few years ago, and I was excited to see what Barnhill would come up with next. I was hoping for another smart fantasy novel with a lot of heart, and that's exactly what I ended up getting.

The novel is set in a small town named Stone-in-the-Glen. It used to be a lovely town that valued kindness and education, but things changed after a series of mysterious fires destroyed much of its infrastructure. The most devastating loss was their beautiful library, which served as an important community center. Now, people don't trust each other, stay inside their homes, and are generally depressed and unpleasant. A traveling Ogress in search of a home stumbles across this town one day and decides to try and change things. She builds herself a small house on the outskirts and begins leaving little presents outside the villagers doors at night. She hopes her secret gifts will promote positive change, but the people have grown so superstitious and tense that they don't have the desired impact. People still keep to themselves and don't think about their neighbors.

One group that does appreciate the gifts and longs for change, however, are the children that live in the small orphanage in the center of town. There are fifteen of them, and they have formed a tight-knit family. They are struggling to make ends meet after the payments they usually receive from the mayor dry up. The occasional gifts from the ogress have become a lifeline for them, and even with those, they still don't have enough to eat. Fearing for the future of their little group, some of the older children embark on a mission to figure out who their mysterious benefactor is, and in the course of their investigation, they set a chain of events into motion that will uncover some shocking truths about Stone-in-the-Glen and change their way of life forever.

I'm not trying to be dramatic here, but this novel was one of the best middle grades fantasies I have every read. Everything about it was pretty much perfect. The writing was Barnhill's signature mix of dry humor and fairy tale richness and the themes of kindness, caring for your neighbors, and the magic of reading were absolutely lovely to explore. I was delighted with it from beginning to end. It was just so, so beautiful. 

I think its strongest point was the characters. The kindly ogress, battling in her quiet way again the prejudices and unkindness of the townspeople, was inspiring, and her unfailing care and devotion to complete strangers made her extremely lovable (and highly relatable to teachers). The plucky, winsome orphans were also enjoyable to read. Their love of books and their support of each other was just so nice. The whole story was nice, for that matter. This is one of those books that feels really good to read. It gives us a vision of how the world should be, with an extra sprinkling of magic.  

I also loved the focus on helping others and being neighborly throughout the story. The problems that Stone-in-the-Glen have to face are not fair and not anything they asked for. In order to overcome the years of bitterness and suspicion that have built up, they have to open their hearts to each other. The ogress and the orphans help start the healing process, but everyone has to work together to make real changes. I thought this was a great message and a lovely way to structure the story. The villain of the story was pretty good too. He was an exaggeration of a kind of person we have in the real world, but with a magical twist that made him the perfect fit for this fantasy story.

So obviously, I truly loved The Ogress and the Orphans. It was a beacon of loveliness in our increasingly grimy world and it's definitely a new favorite for me. This further cements Kelly Barnhill's place as one of my favorite authors. She recently came out with an adult novel that I just picked up, and I'm very excited to see what that's like too. I'm very glad to have read this and I will definitely be recommending it to pretty much everyone that will listen to me. 

Challenge Tally

Middle Grade Mission: 16/24

Total Books Read in 2022: 45