Newbery Medal Winning Children's Fantasy Author Kelly Barnhill At St. Louis County Library

Press release from the St. Louis County Library:

March 1, 2022

St. Louis County Library’s Reading Garden Series for Young Audiences is pleased to present beloved middle-grade fantasy author Kelly Barnhill for a discussion and signing of “The Ogress and the Orphans” on Friday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.

The program is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event from the Novel Neighbor. Face masks will be required for all attendees.

Winner of the Newbery Medal for “The Girl Who Drank the Moon,” a New York Times bestseller, Kelly Barnhill shares a fantasy about the power of generosity and love, and how a community suffers when they disappear.

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?

Kelly Barnhill is the author of four novels, most recently “The Girl Who Drank the Moon,” winner of the 2017 John Newbery Medal. She is also the winner of the World Fantasy Award and has been a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, a Nebula Award, and the PEN/USA literary prize.

Program sites are accessible. Upon two weeks’ notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Contact St. Louis County Library by phone 314-994-3300 or visit www.slcl.org.

This press release was produced by the St. Louis County Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.