THE MOORCHILD

Moql's father is human and her mother one of the Moorfolk, who live beneath the moor. Moql belongs to neither world, but her human blood, which prevents her from changing shape or disappearing at will, makes her dangerous to the Folk. An exchange is made; they have a human child to train as a slave and Moql becomes Saaski, a village child unaware of her origins. As a changeling in the human world, Saaski is regarded as a freak. The concepts of hate and love initially elude her—the Folk are essentially amoral—but she learns about one at the hands of vigilantes and about the other when she makes peace with herself and returns her new mother's love with the perfect gift. A complex and finely drawn character, Saaski undergoes a gradual awakening to her true nature that readers will find intriguing and poignant. McGraw (Tangled Webb, 1993, etc.) makes of Saaski's struggles an emotionally satisfying story; the moor, where Saaski's two lives intersect, is an especially evocative setting. (Fiction. 9-12)