The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Luna is the title character of The Girl Who Drank the Moon. In several languages, the word “luna” means moon, and throughout the book Luna has a special connection to the moon. Luna is an infant at the beginning of the novel. She has curly black hair, black eyes, and “luminous skin, like polished amber” (10). Like her mother, Luna has a crescent moon-shaped birthmark in the center of her forehead. Legend says that people with birthmarks like this are special. Luna has an exceptionally intense gaze, even as a baby. She receives magic from the moon when Xan feeds her moonlight instead of starlight, and as she grows, Luna pulls even more moonlight magic into herself. Xan and Glerk worry because “magical babies are dangerous babies” (38). Luna’s magic, in its signature colors of blue and silver, continues to build within her, finally emerging when she is five. As a mischievous, loving, curious, happy toddler, Luna doesn’t understand the effects of her magic. When Xan locks Luna’s magic away, Luna feels a nameless loss. For the next several years, she grows up thinking she is like the other children she meets in the Free Cities.