The Witch's Boy
“Barnhill…creates an absorbing world of kingdoms and prophecies in which transformation comes through language and through courage and self-awareness as well…Áine, with her sharp survival skills and fearless navigation of the forest, is a cunning and strong figure unlike any typical damsel in distress. She is sure to make young girls aspire to more than the dainty and pretty female image of older fairy tales. The Witch’s Boy may be yet another children’s novel about magic, but it should open young readers’ eyes to something that is all around them in the very world we live in: the magic of words.”
New York Times
When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging, bewitched river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. Sure enough, Ned grows up weak and slow, and stays as much as possible within the safe boundaries of his family's cottage and yard. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic that 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. In the meantime, in another kingdom across the forest that borders Ned's village, lives 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 Ainé's and Ned's paths inevitably cross, they must learn to trust each other and make their way through the woods together to return the magic to its resting place and stop a war that is about to boil over.
Praise