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Kelly Barnhill lives in Minnesota with her husband and three children.
She is the author of four novels, including The Girl Who Drank the Moon, winner of the Newbery Medal. for the year’s most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
The Witch's Boy received four starred reviews and was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards.
She is also the winner of a World Fantasy Award and a Parents’ Choice Gold Award. She has also been a finalist for the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award, the SFWA Andre Norton Award, and the PEN/USA literary prize.
Photo credit Janna Fraboni
Otherworldly, yet rooted in patriarchal realities, Kelly Barnhill‘s When Women Were Dragons is a storytelling masterwork. Set from the 1950s, it presents a magnificent maelstrom of fire-breathing women who refuse to keep quiet, exposing the trauma of enforced silence, and shining a blazing light on how vital it is to transcend imposed shame and live your own way. “I was four years old when I first saw a dragon. I was four years old when I first learned to be silent about dragons. Perhaps this is how we learn silence — an absence of words, an absence of context, a hole in the universe where the truth should be”. So shares Alex, the narrator of this brilliant novel, who lives at a time when adults remember the “mass dragoning” of women that occurred on 25th April 1955, but never mention it. Alex’s aunt Marla was among those who rose up and transformed into a dragon, but it’s as if she never existed. Marla is never spoken of again - not by Alex’s sick mother, and not by Alex’s father, who leaves her to raise Marla’s daughter Beatrice. Before her transformation and vanishing, Marla told Alex that, “All women are magic. Literally all of us. It’s in our nature. It’s best you learn that now”. Fearing little Beatrice won’t be able to resist her powerful urges to dragon, Alex shuns any such notions, and silences Beatrice’s talk of dragons. But librarian Mrs Gyzinska, who supports Alex’s plan to become a mathematician, shares her learned insights, and frames the phenomenon of dragoning in the context of patriarchy: “There are people who have problems with women, and alas, many of them are also women. That is because of something called the patriarchy… an unnecessary and oppressive obstacle, and best disposed of as soon as possible.” As Alex grapples with tremendous conflicts and prejudice, we’re presented with a spectacular prom scene, a tense but glorious reunion, a beautiful love of a lifetime, and glorious sisterhood. What a story.
April 2022 Book of the Month | Generosity over greed, kindness over cruelty, unity over division, and the power of books, Kelly Barnhill’s The Ogress and the Orphans is an exceptional allegorical adventure, with its guileful, all-knowing narrative voice (readers are instructed to “Listen”) and sparkling characters casting a captivating spell. “Once upon a time, when it was a lovely town”, Stone-in-the-Glen used to glow with trust and kindness between neighbours, but not anymore. “It was said that the Library housed the heart of the town. And the mind of the town”, and so everything changed the day it burned down. Now the townsfolk have put their faith in the Mayor (apparently a dragon slayer), and lost their former munificence. And the only inhabitants aware of this cruel shift are the fifteen children of Orphan House, who were “studious and hard-working and kind. And they loved one another dearly, ever so much more than they loved themselves”. When one of the orphans goes missing, the town turns on the Ogress, who is, in fact, also “hardworking and kind and generous. She also loved others more than she loved herself”. Indeed, the calm kindness and generosity of the Ogress sits in stark contrast to the suave, sweet-talking, self-serving Mayor, an exquisitely-crafted villain who might just bring a few politicians to mind, with the prejudicial scapegoating of the Ogress also striking a powerful chord. It falls to the orphans to expose the true villain of the piece, to change opinions of the Ogress, and to restore goodness to their town. Alongside the thrilling, enchanting quest and message of kindness, the author shares messages about the power of books: “The ideas and knowledge contained inside their pages have mass and velocity and gravity. They bend both space and time. They have minds of their own. There is a power in a book that surpasses even that of a dragon”. What a wondrous, timely triumph — I adored every perfectly-placed word. We were thrilled that Kelly joined The LoveReading LitFest to talk about the joy of storytelling. You can find a preview of this event and sign up to become a member. The LoveReading LitFest is a digitally native, all year round, online literature and books festival, with new content released every week is a free-for-all-users festival.
April 2022 Book of the Month | Generosity over greed, kindness over cruelty, unity over division, and the power of books, Kelly Barnhill’s The Ogress and the Orphans is an exceptional allegorical adventure, with its guileful, all-knowing narrative voice (readers are instructed to “Listen”) and sparkling characters casting a captivating spell. “Once upon a time, when it was a lovely town”, Stone-in-the-Glen used to glow with trust and kindness between neighbours, but not anymore. “It was said that the Library housed the heart of the town. And the mind of the town”, and so everything changed the day it burned down. Now the townsfolk have put their faith in the Mayor (apparently a dragon slayer), and lost their former munificence. And the only inhabitants aware of this cruel shift are the fifteen children of Orphan House, who were “studious and hard-working and kind. And they loved one another dearly, ever so much more than they loved themselves”. When one of the orphans goes missing, the town turns on the Ogress, who is, in fact, also “hardworking and kind and generous. She also loved others more than she loved herself”. Indeed, the calm kindness and generosity of the Ogress sits in stark contrast to the suave, sweet-talking, self-serving Mayor, an exquisitely-crafted villain who might just bring a few politicians to mind, with the prejudicial scapegoating of the Ogress also striking a powerful chord. It falls to the orphans to expose the true villain of the piece, to change opinions of the Ogress, and to restore goodness to their town. Alongside the thrilling, enchanting quest and message of kindness, the author shares messages about the power of books: “The ideas and knowledge contained inside their pages have mass and velocity and gravity. They bend both space and time. They have minds of their own. There is a power in a book that surpasses even that of a dragon”. What a wondrous, timely triumph — I adored every perfectly-placed word. We were thrilled that Kelly joined The LoveReading LitFest to talk about the joy of storytelling. You can find a preview of this event and sign up to become a member. The LoveReading LitFest is a digitally native, all year round, online literature and books festival, with new content released every week is a free-for-all-users festival.
A stunning novel from the Newbery Medal winning and New York Times bestselling author of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community. Meanwhile, across the enchanted forest that borders Ned's village lives Aine, the resourceful and pragmatic daughter of the Bandit King, who is haunted by her mother's last words to her: 'The wrong boy will save your life, and you will save his.' When Aine's and Ned's paths cross, can they trust each other long enough to stop the war that's about to boil over between their two kingdoms? 'The Witch's Boy should open young readers' eyes to something that is all around them in the very world we live in: the magic of words.' --The New York Times
THE NO 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER 'This beautifully written, darkly funny coming-of-age story will enchant and entertain' Daily Mail Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the Forest, Xan, is in fact a good witch who shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey. One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna's thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge - with dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Deadly birds with uncertain intentions flock nearby. A volcano, quiet for centuries, rumbles just beneath the earth's surface. And the woman with the Tiger's heart is on the prowl . . . The Newbery Medal winner from the author of the highly acclaimed novel The Witch's Boy.
Newbery Medal winner Kelly Barnhill spins a wondrously different kind of fairy-tale: In most fairy tales, princesses are beautiful, dragons are terrifying, and stories are harmless. But this isn't most fairy tales...Princess Violet is plain, reckless, and quite possibly too clever for her own good. Particularly when it comes to telling stories. One day she and her best friend, Demetrius, stumble upon a hidden room and find a peculiar book. A forbidden book. It tells a story of an evil being, called the Nybbas, imprisoned in their world. The story cannot be true--not really. But then the whispers start. Violet and Demetrius, along with an ancient, scarred dragon-the last dragon in existence, in fact-may hold the key to the Nybbas's triumph or its demise. It all depends on how they tell the story. After all, stories make their own rules.Iron Hearted Violet is a story about the power of stories, our belief in them, and how one enchanted tale changed the course of an entire kingdom.A 2012 Andre Norton Award FinalistA Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner
When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his strange aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for a long time....When he arrives, three astonishing things happen: First, he makes friends?not imaginary friends but actual friends. Second, he is beaten up by the town bully; the bullies at home always ignored him. Third, the richest man in town begins to plot Jacks imminent, and hopefully painful, demise. Its up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically, well, invisible.The Mostly True Story of Jack is a tale of magic, friendship, and sacrifice. Its about things broken and things put back together. Above all, its about finding a place to belong.
Newbery Medal-winner Kelly Barnhill's debut novel is an eerie tale of magic, friendship, and sacrifice.Enter a world where magic bubbles just below the surface. . . .When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his strange aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for quite a long time. When he arrives, he begins to make actual friends for the first time in his life-but the town bully beats him up and the richest man in town begins to plot Jack's imminent, and hopefully painful, demise. It's up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically... invisible.The Mostly True Story of Jack is a stunning debut novel about things broken, things put back together, and finding a place to belong."e;There's a dry wit and playfulness to Barnhill's writing that recalls Lemony Snicket and Blue Balliett...a delightfully unusual gem."e; --Los Angeles Times
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