The Moorchild

Author: Eloise McGraw
Ages: 9-12
Rating: 4/5

I was initially drawn to this book because of the cover. It was appealing because the girl looked so unusual, her bony fingers and her wild hair. I can't help it -the cover or the title is what will often initially draw me to a book.

The story about a girl who is half human and half fairy -a changeling, interested me almost right away. I wasn't convinced though that I should read this immediately. There are soo many books on my list right now that I consider at a higher priority, but a woman I work with saw it on my desk and gushed about it, I figured I would give it a try.

I really enjoyed reading this story. The writing was quite good, and the story was well told. What I really liked in this story was reading about how Saaski/Moql was different from other people. She didn't hate the children for being cruel to her, but she didn't love anyone either -the Folk part of her just couldn't understand these feelings. She tried hard to be a good daughter and to do what she was told, but she would make mistakes and not understand what it was. This is a good story for any child who has ever felt different from the crowd.
I liked the development of her character, some of her growth is a determined decision while some is more slowly understood.

Neat: This book has a reader's guide at the end.

*Spoiler*
The "climax" was overall uninteresting to me, though I get that Saaski's retrieval of the original child was the right way to close the book. It was totally expected.