The moorchild

by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Paper Book, 2007

Status

Available

Local notes

PB McG

Barcode

1437

Publication

New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2007.

Description

Feeling that she is neither fully human nor "Folk," a changeling learns her true identity and attempts to find the human child whose place she had been given.

Awards

Boston Globe–Horn Book Award (Honor — Fiction — 1996)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 4-8 — 1998)
Newbery Medal (Honor Book — 1997)
Golden Kite Award (Winner — Fiction — 1997)
Nēnē Award (Nominee — 1999)
Oregon Book Awards (Winner — Children's Literature — 1997)

Language

Original publication date

1996

Physical description

241 p.; 20 cm

User reviews

LibraryThing member BridgetteHarmon
The Moorchild is a charming fairy tale in the fashion of true old Celtic faerie stories, where faeries are not pretty little things out to grant everyone’s wishes, but greedy tricksters without compassion or morals. The story addresses the ever-relevant concern of children who feel different, who
Show More
don’t quite fit in with everyone else and are subsequently ridiculed and ostracized.

As the story progresses, Saaski’s Moorfolk half becomes less dominant and her human half, which loves and feels pain and cares for people, grows and blossoms. Through Tam’s friendship, she learns how to love and care for others. This teaching element is spun beautifully into the fairy tale fabric of the book, and it is an altogether enjoyable read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member pjacx
This is a strange and satisfying book. It never went where I thought it would go, but it always went where it needed to go. The main character, Sasski, learns that she is half-human and half-elf. She belongs to neither world. She is an outcast. A freak. And somehow Eloise McGraw draws her in a way
Show More
that is sweet and heroic and wonderful. The story is complicated and satisfying and I highly recommend it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jh127876
“The Moorchild” is a modern fantasy about a young changeling girl named Saaski. Fairies exchanged Saaski for a human baby when she failed a test in a past life, which is the main conflict of this story, because Saaski is so different she is not excepted by anyone in her community. There are
Show More
many good issuessuch as individuality and bullying along with some ideas on isolation. “The Moorchild” is story that is very strongly influenced by Irish folklore and includes nearly all Irish mythical creatures.
I really love “The Moorchild,” I read this book first in the eight grade and
I continued to read it again every year. “The Moorchild” was a personal book for me because I was not accepted at all in school. I felt very much like Saaski did in this story, isolated and alone. I also poured my heart out into my passions like Saaski did with her moor and bagpipe. This story had everything I like in a book including magic, weird creatures, music and romance. It also had a happy ending, my favorite appeal to any story.
A great extension for this book would be to study music with the class. Maybe buy dome recorders and teach the kids to play. You could also talk and study the Ireland bogs and moors.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JenJ.
This book made me so mad, but in a good way. I always struggle with unreasoning hatred like that evinced by the villagers and I just wanted to throw things at them (probably not a helpful response in the long run, huh?). Moql's situation works as a metaphor for any child who is an outsider, but
Show More
works particularly well for those straddling multiple cultures. Also, this is a great fantasy as well with lots of details to flesh out the world McGraw has created - it might even appeal to fans of historical fiction with its medieval setting.

Listened to Recorded Books CD edition narrated by Virginia Leishman. The colloquial language really came alive when being read aloud.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LEANN2800
This is one of my favorite books about the faerie world. I love the way myth, fairy tale, reality, and enchantment are woven to tell the tale of a misbegotten child. The author tells the familiar tale of children who don't fit in and the cruelty of others. But, she does so with lyrical language and
Show More
fantasy. It isn't your typical happy ending, it's an ending that makes sense. Anyone who loves faeries should not miss this one.
Show Less
LibraryThing member juniperSun
Nice story from the point of view of a girl who is half fae/human. Exchanged for a human child, she hates her new home until she realizes that if she doesn't try to fit in her fate could be worse. The villagers never do like her, but her parents dote on her, not willing to believe she isn't their
Show More
own baby. She forgets her past "under the Mound", learns about human emotions, and then has an encounter which brings it all back.
Good lesson on maturing. I like stories which have children who love the outdoors {Saaski keeps escaping her chores by going to the moors.)
Show Less
LibraryThing member TrgLlyLibrarian
Lovely description and immersion into medieval Scotland. I was fascinated by the way McGraw gradually revealed the attributes and customs of the Folk of the moors. Most of all, I loved coming to an understanding of the most basic difference between the Folk and the humans--ability to feel lasting
Show More
emotional attachment, hate, and love. For a while I wondered whether the story might have gone better if the readers weren't let in on Saaski's secret from the very beginning; the mystery could have been enhanced. But that would have left less time to learn about the Folk, which is very interesting.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Trying to articulate to myself how I felt about this book, I read some of the other reviews. Now I can't really say anything here, because, word-for-word, Stephanie said it all in her 2* review from Dec. 15 2010. I, too, happened on it by chance, and found it too understated but not actually a bad
Show More
book, etc. etc. So, off you go, find her review if you want to know what I think.
Show Less
LibraryThing member fingerpost
Moql is half human, half Folk, or fairy people. As such, she doesn't quite fit in one world or the other. Since she doesn't fit with the Folk, and they are decidedly non-family oriented, they swap her for a human baby. They will use the human child as a sort of slave, and the humans will raise Moql
Show More
(whom they name Saaski) as their own.
As Saaski grows into girlhood, it is plain to everyone in the village that she isn't "normal". Her parents love her all the same, and try to convince themselves that she is indeed their own child, though they both have their doubts. Saaski's only real friends are her human-side grandmother, who is almost certain that she is a changling, and the boy Tam that she meets while wandering the forbidden moors that she so loves.
The real struggle in the book is Moql/Saaski, who desperately wants to belong, and yet just can't really fit in anywhere.
I was just a little dissatisfied with the conclusion of the book, but it was perhaps the most believable conclusion given the storyline and setting.
Show Less
LibraryThing member electrascaife
Half Folk and half human, Saaski is forced to become a changeling and tries her best to find her place in the human world. She finally finds herownself along the way, of course.
A good story, well-enough told with some solid characters.
LibraryThing member fuzzi
I'm going to begin this review with a WOW. Great read! I was drawn in to the characters and situation, which never felt stereotypical or superficial, or contrived. The people in the story had some dimension, depth, and I had a hard time putting this book down despite it being past my
Show More
"bedtime".

Nice, very nice, worthy of the honor. I felt it possibly could have been a Newbery Medal winner.
Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
This is the changelings tale. Expelled from underhill because as half human she cannot disappear properly and so endangers her community the moorchild is swapped with a human infant. Her babyhood is difficult and she is shunned and bullied by the other children. The flow is not sprightly which
Show More
might not suit the telling of a difficult childhood though it would certainly help getting through it.
Show Less

Pages

241

Rating

½ (204 ratings; 3.9)
Page: 1.5341 seconds