The Ogress and the orphans

Title:

Author:

Summary:

"Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times. Fires, floods, and other calamities have caused the people to lose their library, their school, their park, and even their neighborliness. The people put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow who promises he alone can help. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer. (At least, no one has seen a dragon in his presence.) Only the clever children of the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress at the edge of town can see how dire the town’s problems are. Then one day a child goes missing from the Orphan House. At the Mayor’s suggestion, all eyes turn to the Ogress. The Orphans know this can’t be: the Ogress, along with a flock of excellent crows, secretly delivers gifts to the people of Stone-in-the-Glen. But how can the Orphans tell the story of the Ogress’s goodness to people who refuse to listen? And how can they make their deluded neighbors see the real villain in their midst?" -- Amazon.com.

Audience:

Ages ages 10 and up Algonquin Young Readers.

Grades 4-6 Algonquin Young Readers.

General Note:

Maps on endpapers.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

392 pages : map ; 22 cm

Genre:

Fantasy fiction.

Subject Term:

Orphans -- Juvenile fiction.

Missing children -- Juvenile fiction.

Blame -- Juvenile fiction.

Generosity -- Juvenile fiction.

Ghouls and ogres -- Juvenile fiction.

Publisher:

Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9781643750743

9781643752761

Publication Information:

Chapel Hill, North Carolina : Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2022.

Call Number:

J BARNHILL

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003593145	Juvenile Fiction	BARNHILL	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

A National Book Award finalist and instant fantasy classic about the power of community, generosity, books, and baked goods, from the author of the beloved Newbery Medal winner The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

The town of Stone in the Glen used to be lovely, but it hasn't been so in a very long time.

Once a celebrated town with a vibrant town square, prosperous businesses and families, and educated, happy children, Stone in the Glen has fallen on hard times. Since the expansive and beloved Library burned with other buildings in a time of terrible fires, the town has been plagued by droughts, blight, and destruction.

But the people have continued to put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow with a bright shock of golden hair and brilliant white teeth who promises that he alone can solve their problems. And he is a famous dragon slayer! At least, no one has ever seen a dragon in the Mayor's presence...

But somebody is to blame for the town's problems, not only the fires and the decline that followed them, but the child who has gone missing from the local Orphan House. And with a little helpful suggestion from the Mayor, all eyes turn to the Ogress who has come to live at the far edge of town.

Only the children of the Orphan House know the truth. Together, they must clear the Ogress's name and solve the mystery of the town's destruction before their home of Stone in the Glen is destroyed by its own people.

Author Notes

Kelly Barnhill is a children's book author. Her novels include The Mostly True Story of Jack, Iron Hearted Violet, The Witch's Boy, and The Girl Who Drank the Moon, which received the 2017 John Newbery Medal. She has also received the World Fantasy Award, the Parents Choice Gold Award, the Texas Library Association Bluebonnet award, and a Charlotte Huck Honor.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

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. (Mar.)