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Oct 12, 2017jandt_mcmurray rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
There once was a village on the edge of the great woods. The townspeople believed that inside those woods lived a witch that would bring destruction on their village if they did not sacrifice the youngest baby in their village each year by leaving it on the ground just inside the woods. There was indeed a witch, but she was a kind, loving woman. She did not understand why a small baby was left in the woods each year, but rather than leave the baby to die, she collected it & gave it to a loving family that would raise it as their own. One such baby arrived only to be filled with magic by accident. Since the witch knew how to raise a magical child, she, along with her faithful friends (a baby dragon & a swamp monster) kept that girl as her own, & all 3 of them loved her very much. Meanwhile, a young boy that was forced to help rip this baby girl from the arms of her mother has never been the same since that moment. He believed that what the town council was doing to families was a crime, so he gave up that job & began to make a living on his own. Time goes by, & the young boy becomes a man, & he falls in love with his childhood sweetheart. They too have a child of their own. In fear that his baby would be taken from them as the next sacrifice, he decides to go seek out this witch in the woods & destroy her once & for all. He discovers that it is not the witch that has brought all of this sorrow upon the village but a well-loved, much-trusted lady in the community who herself contained powers unknown to anyone else besides the witch. When the truth is revealed, both women meet their end, one peacefully, one sadly. The baby girl, now a teenager, is brought face-to-face with her birth mother & helps her gain sanity again. In fact, all of the babies that had been left in the woods are told the truth, & they all find their birth parents & begin to build relationships with them. These children did not abandon their adoptive families; they only doubled their love by adding their birth families into their lives. Adoption being a part of how our family was formed, this book held special meaning. Good prevails, evil is destroyed, & families are reunited after years apart. I especially loved the characters of the swamp monster & the baby dragon --- they were so sweet! There is so much more I could say about this story, but I'm not sure how to put it down into words, so I'll just recommend that you read this book if you haven't already! Age recommendation: 8 & up On a scale of 1-10 stars, I give it 10!