Witch's Boy

By: Kelly Barnhill

Narrated by: Ralph Lister

When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging, bewitched river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. Sure enough, Ned grows up weak and slow, and stays as much as possible within the safe boundaries of his family's cottage and yard. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic that Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community.

In the meantime, in another kingdom across the forest that borders Ned's village lives Áine, the resourceful and pragmatic daughter of the Bandit King. She is haunted by her mother's last words to her: "The wrong boy will save your life and you will save his." But when Áine and Ned's paths cross, can they trust each other long enough to make their way through the treacherous woods and stop the war about to boil over?

©2014 Kelly Barnhill. Published by arrangement with Algonquin Young Readers, an imprint of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing, Inc. (P)2014 HighBridge Company

Lovely Story

The story was nicely read and it kept my interest. it had a little adventure and some coming of age.

Kelly Barnhill does it again

True to her beautiful story writing, and brought to life with fantastic artistic nuance of Ralph Lister, Witch’s boy weaves a tale of magic, loss, friendship and loyalty that does not disappoint. Adults and young adults/kids alike, my 8 and 6 year old loved having this as part of our daily car rides.

This story was excellent!

My 8 year old daughter and I listened to this during our daily commute. Not only did it help the time pass faster but we thoroughly enjoyed the story. Would definitely recommend.

What a story!!!!

Love love loved this. I bought it simply by the title and a brief scan of the synopsis...I couldn't put it down. The prose, the narrator's voice and sounds, the storyline...I am SO impressed. This story made me cry more than once, and that is powerful. Loved it!

I love this

I love her writing. To me it feels fresh and delightful. Her characters are unique and well drawn. I will definitely read more of her books

Great time! For any age!

Sure it's completely unrealistic with talking magic & demon like bandits, but the combo of the fantastic story & narrator who brilliantly portrays such a wide range of character voices makes this 10 hrs that fly by

Ran Out of Steam

I enjoyed the imaginative story, up until the ending. It was as if Miss Barnhill ran out of ideas, or wasn’t sure what she should do with her characters.

Excellent

Great book about friendship and magic. Loved this story and superbly read. Worth a credit.

story good, narrator not as much

The narrator uses a ridiculous falsetto voice for the women. It's grating and makes those characters a joke. I'm not sure why the narrator does this for the female voices. It takes away from the content of the story. Otherwise the story is very good, in keeping with Barnhill's stories.

Such a good story.

I am going to listen again after just finishing it. The story is so good and I like the way the reader reads.