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A review by okiecozyreader
The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill
adventurous
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This reminded me of the Beatryce Prophecy in the way it is written. Kind of a fable, with an ogress who cares for people and the orphans and an evil Mayor, who has taken an ordinary town and turned it into a place where people don’t care about it. In the beginning of the story, the library burns, and people cared, but little by little, all the good things cease, the Mayor gains more power and the people suffer.
The writing is beautiful and so is the story, but it’s such a slow read. It has taken me almost a month as an adult to slog through it. Students who are avid readers might enjoy it, or with a class who frequently reads together and can handle a slow book, but most classes and readers I have in my school would quit early in the book.
This is 13 hours in audio and all the other Sequoyah nominees this year are 4-7 hours by comparison.
Ch 9
“And they appreciated the Ogress’s attempts to speak to them in their language.”
“What does it mean to be a good neighbor?”
Ch 14
“Perhaps the only thing that matters is what you make of kindness. What matters is how you see these questions appear in your own life, how you think about them, and then how you choose to behave. Do you think it matters that people are kind?”
Ch 20
“What was it like to be seen?, she wondered.
Ch 24
“Feelings are funny things. They feel like facts. Sometimes, it is nice to think that they might be facts. If I could transform my feelings into gold coins, I would stack them on my desk and call myself the richest man in the world.”
Ch 29
“Goodness and Wickedness have no meaning if they are not defined by choices or actions.”
Ch 39
“—oh, what treasure is to be had by those who do not share! After all, the more you have, the more you have!”
The writing is beautiful and so is the story, but it’s such a slow read. It has taken me almost a month as an adult to slog through it. Students who are avid readers might enjoy it, or with a class who frequently reads together and can handle a slow book, but most classes and readers I have in my school would quit early in the book.
This is 13 hours in audio and all the other Sequoyah nominees this year are 4-7 hours by comparison.
Ch 9
“And they appreciated the Ogress’s attempts to speak to them in their language.”
“What does it mean to be a good neighbor?”
Ch 14
“Perhaps the only thing that matters is what you make of kindness. What matters is how you see these questions appear in your own life, how you think about them, and then how you choose to behave. Do you think it matters that people are kind?”
Ch 20
“What was it like to be seen?, she wondered.
Ch 24
“Feelings are funny things. They feel like facts. Sometimes, it is nice to think that they might be facts. If I could transform my feelings into gold coins, I would stack them on my desk and call myself the richest man in the world.”
Ch 29
“Goodness and Wickedness have no meaning if they are not defined by choices or actions.”
Ch 39
“—oh, what treasure is to be had by those who do not share! After all, the more you have, the more you have!”