Stone-in-the Glen once was a pleasant town where the people were mostly kind and generous to each other. When a dragon burned down their library, the town and the relationships disintegrated. Fortunately, a dragon-fighting man arrives to fight the dragon. This man becomes their mayor. The people seem to be enarmoured with him and are blind to his poor leadership. He rules with fear and suspicision. The children at the Orphan House oppose his ways and resist his "spell". Meanwhile, the Orgress living on the edge of town lavishes the bitter, fearful residents with baked goods and hand-painted cards during the night. Can kindness truly overcome fear and greed?
Discuss: worldview/philosophy: Can kind acts transform people? Are books the answer to everyone's problems? Is everyone naturally good? How do rhetoric and repeated phrases influence individuals?
I do not agree with all of the author's worldviews (see questions above) but this book provides opportunity to discuss these worldviews.
The writing is elegant, lyrical and poetic. The reader will fall in love with the main orphans, Matron, Myron and the Ogress (I also liked the cobbler's wife!). I liked how Ms. Barnhill offers hints who the mayor is and how she does not reveal the narrator until the end. The narrator had a lot of voice.
For some reason the book took me longer than usual to complete (it has 390 pgs). . .it may be I was busier these last couple of weeks.
-Borrowed from the library.
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