If she keeps far enough away from humans, perhaps she won’t be forced to hurt them.
Deep in the woods lives the old witch called Ugly One. All she wants is to forget—the she was once a loving mother and a healer, blessed and powerful within her magic circle, and not a witch, claimed by the devils. Then one day she hears the footsteps she dreads. Then real voices—children’s voices. The Ugly One longs to take care of sturdy, sensible Gretel and her young brother Hansel. They are such good children, such delicious, beautiful children. But demons’ voices scream in her head: “Eat them!” How can she? . . . How can she not?
“A work of great strength and powerful emotion, written with immediacy and intensity, filled with beauty and terror and pervading sense of compassion that must touch young and old.”—Lloyd Alexander
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
“A work of great strength and powerful emotion, written with immediacy and intensity, filled with beauty and terror and pervading sense of compassion that must touch young and old.”—Lloyd Alexander
"The author's extraordinary craftsmanship and originality never flag. . . A YA novel of genuine magic and suspense, this will captivate adults as well."—Publishers Weekly
"Richly poetic yet accessible and immediate; pungent and wise; mesmerizing."—Kirkus Reviews
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and young adult fiction. Some of her work includes Treasury of Greek Mythology, Stones in Water, Treasury of Norse Mythology, and Daughter of Venice. She has five children and eight grandchildren. She dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist. She loves to garden, bake bread, dance, and make pottery.
View titles by Donna Jo Napoli
If she keeps far enough away from humans, perhaps she won’t be forced to hurt them.
Deep in the woods lives the old witch called Ugly One. All she wants is to forget—the she was once a loving mother and a healer, blessed and powerful within her magic circle, and not a witch, claimed by the devils. Then one day she hears the footsteps she dreads. Then real voices—children’s voices. The Ugly One longs to take care of sturdy, sensible Gretel and her young brother Hansel. They are such good children, such delicious, beautiful children. But demons’ voices scream in her head: “Eat them!” How can she? . . . How can she not?
“A work of great strength and powerful emotion, written with immediacy and intensity, filled with beauty and terror and pervading sense of compassion that must touch young and old.”—Lloyd Alexander
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
“A work of great strength and powerful emotion, written with immediacy and intensity, filled with beauty and terror and pervading sense of compassion that must touch young and old.”—Lloyd Alexander
"The author's extraordinary craftsmanship and originality never flag. . . A YA novel of genuine magic and suspense, this will captivate adults as well."—Publishers Weekly
"Richly poetic yet accessible and immediate; pungent and wise; mesmerizing."—Kirkus Reviews
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Author
Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and young adult fiction. Some of her work includes Treasury of Greek Mythology, Stones in Water, Treasury of Norse Mythology, and Daughter of Venice. She has five children and eight grandchildren. She dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist. She loves to garden, bake bread, dance, and make pottery.
View titles by Donna Jo Napoli
