This week we are discussing The Moth Keeper by K. O'Neill. For this discussion we will be discussing the book as a whole.
Content Warning!!!This book contains situations and subjects related to: depression, trauma, abandonment, and burn out themes.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.
Discussion:
Jacilyn: Hello friends and welcome to our discussion of The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neil. This is a more contemporary middle grade graphic novel that I’ve heard buzz about at the library. As the book has gone in and out with patrons, I’ve always been compelled by the art style, so I was excited that we chose this one. The story follows Anya, a girl in a village that follows the moon instead of the sun and holds sacred the moths that live in and pollinate the Night Flower. The pollen of the Night Flower is pivotal to this community’s lives, and Anya’s role as Moth Keeper is often a lonely and heavy burden to bear.
First off, I really enjoyed the quiet representation in this book. Queerness seems to be a completely accepted and normalized thing in the night village, and two important characters are disabled and albino, respectively. None of it is made a big deal of, it’s not used as a way to further the plot, it just simply is. I think that’s so important for children AND adults to see in literature.
Michaela: I really enjoyed this book for many reasons and one of them is this community in the night village. Everyone exists together and works together to create a loving and successful community. I wish I could experience what that felt like, if I’m being honest. The culture where we used to live has a shallow appearance of community but when you look deeper it's just small town gossip and biases. The night village and the sun village are both so excited to receive outsiders and bring them in as well. Anya visits the sun village, because she’s always wanted to know what living in the sunlight was like, and they immediately bring her in and explain the good and bad things about living in the sun. Nothing is expressly good and bad in either village and both places acknowledge that and embrace their home, and I just love to see that.
I also really loved the passing down of knowledge and tradition. This is something found in every culture since that’s simply how culture continues. But in O’Neill’s work it all focused on teaching, understanding, health, and kindness; which is not always the case with some people’s motivation for keeping tradition. While this book shows an idealistic version of a community I think it would be important for a younger person reading this book to see this representation of that kind of community so that they can see it can exist and strive for it for themselves.
Anya was also such a beautiful representation of someone who feels like an “other” even though they are from where they are. I think you could read her as “the weird girl”, having depression, being autistic, a black sheep, or feeling lost in self identity. I could see all of those in her as a character. When I was a kid, and still today, I absolutely adore and look for characters that I can see myself in like that.
Jacilyn: The trauma that Anya is working through was interesting to read, too. Her mother abandoned her in the desert in the dark, because Anya was too afraid to keep going. She always feels like someone no one wants in spite of the welcoming atmosphere of the village that took her in, like she doesn’t fully belong in this village who thrives in the dark, because she’s afraid of the dark. Becoming the next Moth Keeper was her way of trying to move past her fear, to feel like she held an important and wanted role in her community. And in the end, it wasn’t enough to quell those fears at all,
Another aspect I really liked about this story was the fact that her community didn’t blame Anya for what happened, didn’t shun her, get angry with her, or anything like that. They all just wanted to help, and they hoped for the best. I think my favorite character was Estell. She has this deep sense of empathy towards everyone, but especially Anya. She’s always there for Anya in whatever way she’s needed - making sure Yeolen knows when Anya is becoming weary, packing moth food for Anya’s journey to find and return the moths. She’s just a lovely person.
Michaela: Anya and Estell were both so well written for such a short story. O’Neill did an amazing job of showing so much feeling through the story and the art. Anya feeling like she couldn’t thrive in the dark because of her fear felt so familiar to me. I am someone who has never felt like they fit in or understand others very well, now as an adult I have realized I probably have ADHD and am on the autism spectrum which would mean I truly do not fit in with neurotypical people. Anya discovering in the end that she can see familiar shapes in the darkness using the light of her lantern echoes the experience of discovering you are neurodivergent. That your brain works differently and learning how to work with your neurodivergent-ness to help yourself navigate the world built for neurotypicals in an easier way and in a kinder way to yourself.
Another good representation of neurodivergent or depression is Lioka who was a minor character but ended up being the key to saving the moths and the Night Flower. Lioka slowly “became obsessed with the moon” and her loved ones started to continue with life without her. Lioka couldn’t help how she felt about the moon and eventually felt nothing but her obsession with the moon. Depression can be and often is consuming. It is so easy to be dragged down by depression and the world moves on without you while you’re stuck. People who don’t suffer from depression, even if they’re your loved ones, have a hard time understanding your experience and they feel like you should just move on. Lioka couldn’t let go of the moon, it became part of her and she wandered the desert until someone finally saw her. I also think Lioka can represent addiction, especially with how she said “the sadder I felt, the more I believed that only the beauty of the moon would make me happy again.
So much of this book can be interpreted in so many ways that almost anyone could relate to it. They could see themselves in various characters. They can see a community that loves and cares for its members to see that they could build that for themselves. They can see different versions of being lost and see the lost being accepted. I simply just love this book and now I need to go read more of O’Neill’s work. Thank you all for joining us for our middle grade book adventure! Until next time!
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