The Hidden Kingdom (Wings of Fire, Book 3) by Tui T. Sutherland

It was a bit touch and go as to whether I would get a chance to read my review copy of The Hidden Kingdom (Wings of Fire, Book 3, Scholastic, May 2013) by Tui T. Sutherland.  My ten year old and his classmates are huge fans of this series, and after my son devoured this one, it disappeared into his extensive reading circle*, and made many children happy**.  Fortunately I remembered before the end of school that I needed it back, and so it returned to me, and I finally got to read it.  And I enjoyed it very much too.

So the basic premise is that the various clans of dragons are at war, and there's a prophecy that five dragonets will bring peace.   The Dragonets of Destiny, as they are known, were taken as eggs to a secret cave, and raised by The Talons of Peace...until they escaped, to try to find their destiny (and their families) for themselves.

Each book focuses on a different young dragon, and The Hidden Kingdom is Glory's book.  Glory has had a harder life than the others-- She's a RainWing, thought to be lazy and worthless by the other dragon clans,  and she isn't actually in the prophecy.  There were problems with the SkyWing egg that the prophecy had called for, and her egg was a last minute substitute.  So all her life she's been bullied by the Talons of Peace, and told she's worthless, so she feels angry and defensive.   But now she and the other four have reached the kingdom of the rain dragons, and she'll see for herself just what her people really are like....

But though the life of the RainWings is peaceful and rather lovely, it has a darker side.   RainWings have been disappearing, and no one is doing anything about it.   And so the Dragonets find themselves on a desperate rescue mission that takes them into an adventure just as dark and dangerous as anything that's ever happened to them.

So yes, there's some violence, but it's not something the characters take lightly.  Glory has used her RainWing venom on other dragons to save herself and her friends....something she finds no RainWing would do.    But once again, she's faced with no alternative...

New characters are introduced, and the existing characters continue to work out their dynamics, and new and fascinating world-building takes place (raising interesting questions---is a society of peaceful inaction acceptable?).   It's a fine, page-turning addition to the series, and if you haven't offered these books to your handy fourth grader (boy or girl), do so tout suite!  And read them yourself because if your fourth grader is like mine, he or she will want to talk about them with you, and also because you might, like me, find them fun light reading for your own pleasure.

The Hidden Kingdom ends on a cliffhanger, and both of us want to be the first to read The Dark Secret (coming in October).  I will probably be forced to model gracious unselfishness.  Sigh.

Here are my reivews of the first two books:  The Dragonet Prophecy, and The Lost Heir.   The Hidden Kingdom is my personal favorite so far.

* I am so jealous of this aspect of my son's childhood.  There are about twelve truly avid readers of fantasy in his class, boys and girls, and they recommend and share and play imaginary book based games like crazy.  They even call and text each other to talk about books.

**I feel compelled to let Scholastic know that their book sales have not been undercut--the kids have all been buying their own copies at the school book fair.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

Dragonborn, by Toby Forward

Dragonborn, by Toby Forward (April 2012, Bloomsbury, middle grade), goes to show (and very nicely too) that it's possible to take elements that might seem to have been done to death in middle grade fantasy and make them into a book that appeals even to even the jaded adult reader (ie, me).  In short, I enjoyed it; not with wild  extravagant enjoyment, but it held my interest just fine.  I have underlined the common elements in my summary, in a helpful spirit, just for my own amusement and not because they made me think less of the book.

Sam is an orphaned boy learning magic from a kindly old wizard in a cottage of sylvan simplicity (I liked that he was named Sam, which I thought made a nice change in its matter-of-factness), who has a dragon friend (but not the sort one rides on).  The old wizard dies before Sam has finished his apprenticeship, and all his old pupils show up at the sylvan retreat.  And none of them believes that Sam was a true apprentice, with magic and all.   So Sam, and his dragon friend, strike out on their own, leaving the other wizards faced with a magically locked door that convinces them pretty quickly that Sam has magic after all, and needs to be found.

Sam's journey takes him to a school of magic, but it is no Hogwarts.  Instead it is a degenerate place where the library has been neglected, and a sort of capitalist spirit of magic for profit rules supreme.   There at the magic school is a brave and clever girl,  and a mean boy who plots against our hero.

And then everything becomes a lot more complicated and difficult to explain, with a struggle against malevolent evil in the form of a sorceress who's a really nasty piece of venom,  and magic playing out in interesting ways,  and the grown-up wizards turn up and are interesting and it was really quite engrossing.

( I liked the simpler first part best).

Things got more tricky to follow, and the climactic scene toward the end (involving the whole "dragonborn" thing) didn't make sense to me (to put it more bluntly, I have No Clue At All what happened in the relationship of the boy and the dragon and how it helped thwart the antagonist) but that could be just my own dimness.    And then the book ends, clearly in need of a sequel (which I will  read), but not distressingly so.

So I think that this is one with appeal to adults who enjoy middle grade fantasy; I was very happy to keep reading it, and there parts that I enjoyed very much.   And I think older, middle-grade readers with many fantasy books under their belts will also appreciate it.   The UK cover at right is much more age appropriate than the US cover, which makes it look like a friendly magical book for eight or nine year-olds.  It's most definitely not that age, for two reasons:

1.  It's disturbing.  The good wizard is dead right from the start, and Sam is alone and friendless.   The adults who are supposed to be his friends fail him.  Sam almost dies at one point, and takes a long time to recover.   The magic school is rotten.  The (tremendously appealing) dragon friend is separated from Sam for most of the book.

And on top of all that, the bad character is scary and disgusting (I really could have done without so much detail about her beetle eating habits; one beetle, two beetles, I could have taken, but there were lots more), and she tortures people, and we never (in this book at least) find out who or what she really is, so she remains an undefeated figure of nightmare.   Voldemort is scary too, but we kind of work our way up to him.  This bad beetle-eater is there from the beginning, casting a creepy pall of darkness from her dismal tower.

2.  The story is confusing.  Not in a muddled writing sort of way, but because confusing things happen without much explication.  There is some backstory given for the world in general, through pages from Sam's notebook, but the history of the adult characters (and clearly they have lots of history) is (for the most part) not told to the reader.   One has many questions along the way--why were the older wizards so dim about Sam?  Is such and such character to be trusted?  Who the heck is the bad beetle-eater, and was she always so bad?  Why is the dragon doing that?  There is no spoon-feeding (and as I said, I failed to understand what happened at the end).  

So I'm not going to offer this one to my own nine-year old (devourer of fantasy though he is), but I am going to be on the look-out for the sequel myself....and now I see that the sequel, Fireborn, has already been out for a while in the UK, but is coming in December over here in the US...

Dragon Run, by Patrick Matthews

Dragon Run, by Patrick Matthews (Scholastic, March 1, 2013, but on shelves now, middle grade) is a just fine fantasy adventure for the 9-11 year-old set.  It's an "if they like the cover they'll like the book" book -- boy, sword, dragon, with a title that promises action.

In an alternate, quasi-medieval world, all twelve year-olds are tested to determine their rank in life.  Al dreams of getting the highest rank mark--a seven--tattooed on his neck...but instead, he is found wanting.  All his ambitions go up in smoke when he is pronounced a zero, something virtually unheard of.   Ones are beyond the pale, but absolutely no-one wants anything to do with a zero...except the Cullers, who want to kill them for eugenics purposes. 

Fortunately Al gets some help escaping from the castle keep where he's been tested...but how will he survive, despised and alone, pursued by the ruthless killers who want to cull him?

But there is more to his story than that.   For Al's world is one ruled by dragons, though they pay little attention to the humans crawling beneath them.   As Al flees from the Cullers, he begins to learn that his world is a much more complex and scary place than he had imagined.   The dragons are much more than they seem...and Al is forced to confront their power, head on, to save not only himself, but his people...

It's a great story, with a great premise--I give it very high marks for Plot.  Seeing how the whole eugenics bit played out was particularly interesting.   Though Al and his two good friends (boy and girl) don't rise to memorable heights of characterization, they're just fine, and it's nice to read about a hero who's special because he has nothing going for him but his own pluck and stubborn-ness.  Interest is added by several not-quite-human races that co-exist with regular people.  The writing isn't exceptional, being your standard, occasionally stilted, quasi-medieval fantasy writing, but I'm so used to that that it didn't bother me.

However, world-builidng-wise this fell short for me.  It's not till around page 194 that the reader learns what the whole point of the cast system is, how magic is important to this world, and why the dragons care, and it's not till page 223 that I realized that "Lord Archovar," who had been mentioned several times, was in fact a dragon.  It seems to me that if you are going to have overlord dragons and a world with magic, you should make it patently obvious from the beginning.

Just to show that it wasn't (at least, not entirely, my dimness as a reader), here's where we hear of Lord Archovar for the first time:

"A tall man stood in the opening.  His black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and his tabard bore the purple and yellow flower of Lord Archovar.  He raised a long brass horn to his lips and blew three short bursts.  A hush rippled through the crowed, and the man dropped gracefully to one knee, bowing his head.  On either side of him, the men at the gates echoed his gesture, as did the guards on the wall above.

The people in the field dropped to their knees as fast as they could, bowing their heads and closing  their eyes.  Al went to one knee, but kept his eyes open, staring at the dead leaves on the ground.

Glancing sideways , he noticed that Wisp also had his eyes open.  The boys shared a look, then watched the dragon's shadow soar across the field and disappear behind the castle." (page 5)

It totally went over my head that Lord Archovar and the dragon were one and the same; when I got to page 233, and his dragon-ness was made clear, I flipped back through to see if I had missed anything, and didn't find any statements of obvious dragon-ness I had overlooked.  (However, on page 9 it's clear that another lord is a dragon, so perhaps I should have made the connection....).

And I think that if you have a variety of not quite human races, you shouldn't keep introducing them abruptly, but mention early on that they might be expected.  It's less jarring that way, when suddenly you meet people with webbed hands, or white fur.

So though I did appreciate the story, the book as a whole didn't quite work for me because the world wasn't solidly built enough for me, and the characterization and writing weren't quite enough to compensate.   It's not one I'd urge grown-up readers to seek out, but kids in the market for a rather exciting "boy becomes hero" story, for whom plot is most important, may well enjoy it lots.

Here's the Kirkus review, which provides details I didn't.   I do not agree the ending was predictable, as the Kirkus reviewer opined--I liked the ending, and found it very interesting and surprising (maybe because the Kirkus reader figured out long, long before me who was a dragon, and what the dragons were up to....).  I do agree, however, that it "went down pretty easy."

(disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher)

Dragonbreath: Nightmare of the Iguana

I have raved many times before about the Dragonbreath books by Ursula Vernon.  They are my default recommendation for books to give the child who is betwixt and between easy readers and longer books--generous font size, heavy on graphic panels that advance the story (although less so as the series progresses), both girl and boy friendly, and funny as heck.   And they are also perfect for giving to your picky 12 year old reader, because they aren't at all patronizing/condescending, so older readers can enjoy them too, and it is so nice to see said picky reader reading a book cover to cover grinning his head off. 

So book 8, Nightmare of the Iguana, is out now, and we get to meet Suki, the smart and sarcastic ex-Ninja gecko, again!  Yay!  It is especially nice for Wendell, the geeky young iguana, because they kind of fancy each other.  Except that Wendell is being plagued by horrible nightmares, with potentially disastrous consequences...and to save him, Danny Dragonbreath and Suki must venture into his unconscious mind...a strange and terrible place....

I probably grinned as much reading it as my twelve year old.  I think Curse of the Were-Wiener is still my favorite, but this one was lots of fun. 

And the next book is on its way, in which Danny, Wendell, and their friend-who-is-a girl [sic] must hunt down mutant thieves, in The Case of the Toxic Mutants, coming Sept. 1..... I hope we get to meet the potato salad again (it's my favorite living potato salad of all time).

The Lost Heir (Wings of Fire, Book 2), by Tui T. Sutherland

If I were a different sort of person, I might have created some sort of spread sheet for the books I was reading for the Cybils, giving them points for the two categories by which we evaluated them-- Kid Appeal and Literary Merit.   The Dragonet Prophecy (the first book of the Wings of Fire), by Tui Sutherland (Scholastic 2012), would have gotten extremely high marks for its kid appeal, and indeed, if I had to recommend one book on our list of 151 to a random fourth grade kid, it would have been this one.

Of all the books that didn't make it onto our final list, this is the one I regret most.

The second book, The Lost Heir, is now out in the world, and has been out in my son's fourth grade classroom since he took my review copy to share.   The list was long, and the readers still waiting in line are restless--the girl who presently has it has misplaced it....although at this point they can all just go to the book store and buy it, so its not quite as tense as it was back in December.  So in a nutshell--yes, the kidlit appeal of this series is still going strong.

Each book in the series is told from the point of view of one of five young dragons, taken as eggs to a secret hiding place and raised with the assumption that they will be the Dragonets of Prophecy, who will bring peace to the warring dragon factions.  In this book, sea-dragon Tsunami is reunited with her mother, Queen Coral...but though Tsunami does her best to see things through rose-colored spectacles (and indeed, her mother is very glad to have her back), all is not, in fact, rose petals and happiness.   For starters, Tsunami's dragonet companions are imprisoned, and her loyalties are torn, and this is just one small part of the whole business of warring dragon factions that Tsunami can't pretend doesn't exist.

And then Tsunami finds herself facing a dark mystery--someone, or something, has been killing Queen Coral's daughters.   Tsunami herself was saved by being kidnapped while still in her egg...and unless she can figure out what's happening, her unhatched baby sister will be the next victim of the mysterious killer.

So yes, there are dragon deaths, and political intrigues, and injustices and machinations that must be faced.  Tsunami has a hard time with the facing part of it--she wants her life to have a story book happy ending, and she wants as well to be a clear, decisive leader for whom everything works out just the way she wants it too, but that's not what happens.  She must learn hard lessons.

There's not as much violence as there was in the first book, but dragons do die, and Queen Coral, though a loving mother with many fine qualities, is not above torturing and executing dragons who fail her.   Tsunami is busy trying not to think to critically of her mother, so readers are left to form their own opinions--which, in my case, boiled down to "girl, get your friends together and get the heck out of there."

Which, happily, is what ends up happening.  Because it's the friendships of the dragonets that give the series its heart, and with the tight focus on Tsunami in this book, that got a tad overshadowed.   Next up is Glory's story--the secrets of the Rainwings revealed! (The Hidden Kingdom, coming June 3)

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde

The Last Dragonslayer, by Jasper Fforde, is one of the few books that made it onto my list of favorite books read in 2012.   In large part this is due to the presence of  a utterly awesome magical creature, the Quarkbeast, but even Quarkbeast aside, it's a fun one.

It's set in an alternate UK--the Un-united Kingdoms, where all the little bits of the British Isles are separate kingdoms, engaged in fierce struggles against each other (it helps to have a decent grip of the geography of England and Wales in particular to make sense of this--it could be confusing if you don't know where Hereford and Brecon are, for instance).

In this world there is magic, and once there was a lot more of it.  The magicians, much less powerful than they once were, have come down in the world,  using carpets to make routine delivers, and magic to unclog drains.  Jennifer, the 15-year-old indentured foundling who runs Kazam Mystical Arts Management,  a place full of eccentric magic users, struggles to find enough work for everyone to keep things going.

But then the level of magic begins to surge, and soothsayers across the divided lands begin predicting the death of the last dragon.   Jennifer finds herself in the right place and the right time to assume, much to her surprise, the role of Dragonslayer, inheriting a super-cool dragon slaying mobile, super sharp dragonslaying sword, and the ability to pass unharmed into the vast area of wilderness that is home to the dragon.    When the dragon dies, it will trigger a land rush, and not only are thousands of people camping out by the boarder, eager to stake their claims, but the Kingdom of Hereford and the duchy of Brecon are preparing for all out war over this opportunity for territorial expansion.

There's just one problem in the King of Hereford's plans, however.  Jennifer, far from being eager to fulfil the premonitions and slay the dragon at 12 on Sunday, finds her sympathies firmly on the side of the ancient creature.   And Big Magic is coming...

It's the sort of book that's filled with amusing minor characters, somewhat over the top world building, and sly pokes at modern society.    And I Loved her ferocious pet Quarkbeast (lots of fangs, but a heart of gold).  I also appreciated the digs at greedy consumer culture, and shared Jennifer's distaste at the thought of development despoiling the dragon's wilderness.  And though some may feel all this sort of thing distracts from the central story of Jennifer and the dragon, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I really liked Jennifer--the story is written in a distant 1st person, but I thought her character came through loud and clear from her actions and words.   Insufficient Jennifer-characteriztion is a critism I noticed in  my glance at the Goodreads reviews--I think if you approach this one as a book for kids, this becomes less of an issue.

It's mostly labled Young Adult, but it has much more of a middle grade feel--adventure fun, with lots of magical rushings around.  I'd recommend in in particular to fans of Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones--humor verging on over-the-top-ness, high expectations that the reader will be able to figure out what's happening without a whole lot of underlined exposition, and a sense of things on the edge (both for the reader, and within the world of the book) of becoming utterly chaotic!

I thought the story hung together rather well, with no desperate need for a sequel; however, there is one--  Song of the Quarkbeast--already out in the UK.  Had I but known how much I'd like this one, I would have asked for it for Christmas!

Other reviews:  Finding Wonderland, The Bookwyrm's Hold, and oh goodness lots of others and I have to go to work now sorry.

Oh No, Little Dragon! by Jim Averbeck

Last week my blog was a stop on the Dragon and Dangerous Princess blog tour, in which Jim Averbeck, writer and illustrator of Oh No, Little Dragon! (Atheneum Books, 2012) and Dangerously Ever After, by Dashka Slater (my review).  At that time I hadn't actually had the pleasure of reading Jim's new book, but that has now been remedied!

Oh No, Little Dragon (Atheneum, 2012) is a picture book for the 2 to 4 year old set, a perfect offering for the small child who loves his little fire-breathing colleagues in childhood!  Little Dragon loves ot huff and puff and PHOOSH out fire, but there's a side-effect--sootiness.  Which means bathtime, complete with a toy Viking ship to incinerate.  But when Little Dragon decides to play the part of the Fire Department, the spark inside him goes out!  How will he find his flame again?  And without his flame, will his mama dragon still love him?  Of course she will, and the warmth of her love is just what he's been looking for.

Totally charming.   The pictures are simple, and so is the story, but in a most excellent way.

Along with Oh No,  Little Dragon!  I also received one of Jim Averbeck's earlier books, Except If (Atheneum, 2011).  This one's more sophisticated--in a series of possibilities, the reader/viewer is taken from an egg to a snake to a lizard to a fossilized dinosaur (!), and back again to an egg.   Mind expanding for the young, and one a grown-up can enjoy reading too.


If you didn't get a chance to read Jim Averbeck and Dashka Slater's chat about fantasy books here at my blog tour stop, here's the link again.

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill

Iron Hearted Violet, by Kelly Barnhill (Little Brown, Oct. 2012, middle grade) is a moving and memorable story of a brave girl confronting a terrible darkness.

(That's me deciding that I should start every review with a little teaser sentence so that people will keep reading.  This is me thinking my teaser sentence is somewhat banal.  Oh well).

Violet is the princess of a land that lies beneath a mirrored sky lit by two suns, one of many worlds in a multiverse of all the possibilities the creator gods imagined.  She is not a beautiful princess, but she is beloved, and as the only child of the king and queen, she is her country's hope and heart.   She is a child of stories, listing to all the tales the old story master shared with her, and making up her own spellbinding sagas.  And she and her friend Demetrius, the son of the stable master, grow up in happy exploration of the castle...untrammeled (through deliberate avoidance on Violet's part) of social and situational expectation (which is to say, Violet isn't exactly a docile pupil).  And though she knows that she isn't beautiful, as a true princess should be, Violet is happy.

But one day, in their explorations of the mysterious, miniature labyrinth of panelled passageways, secreted within the castle walls, the two children come across a hidden chamber.  In it was imprisoned a dark secret...an ancient power of evil, desperate to be free, that latches onto Violet with wily tendrils of mental malevolence.

And then everything goes wrong.  Horribly, sadly, wrong...except, as is always the case in the best sort of stories, there is hope--hope that Violet can stay true to herself, hope that Demeterius will be a stalwart friend and defender, hope that the stories of the ancient gods are true...and hope that the last of the dragons might find his hidden heart...and take up, once more, the burden of love.

Iron Hearted Violet was a book that held my attention raptly, but one that made me so sad and discouraged in its middle section that it was painful to keep reading.   But that was never an option, because I was so interested I needed to go on...

It was a book that made pictures in my mind (which is important to me), and looking back on it, I find that the pictures are clearest of the two places on which the book hinges most deeply....the two places where the heart of the matter lies--the hidden room deep within, and the enclosure outside in which the last dragon is imprisoned (for his own good--the king does not wish him ill).   It's a book full of stories told and lived and changed....and I am always a sucker for books in which such stories are key to the change that must happen for there to be a happy ending.

It's a book that I won't give to my nine year old, because it is too sad.  But it's a book that I think will be just right for the right reader--the dreamy 11 or 12 year old girl, or the grown-up who still appreciates "children's books" without getting all critical because of them not being written for adults.  Except, that is, for those like me who don't like it when things go deeply wrong for young protagonists.   It's a book I think I might like much more the second time around, knowing that it will be ok!  (That being said, the black and white illustrations by Iacopo Bruno were rather warmly comforting in their small details, which was a help to me).

One very personal thing that kept me from loving this one is that Violet, under the influence of events, becomes rather unsympathetic for much of the middle.  So not only are things going wrong in general, but instead of rooting for Violet, I found myself wanting to shake her somewhat.  Edited to add: happily, she throws off the enchantment while there is still much of the book left to read and enjoy, and I became able to root for the new, heroic Violet whole-heartedly.  A second thing I didn't care for (and again, this is personal)-- there's an intrusive narrator, the court storyteller, who didn't add much value for me. 

Still, it was thought-provoking, and magical, and strong...and I really hope that some of you who are regular readers read it too and tell me what you think!  I'd recommend it in particular to anyone who enjoyed Reckless, by Cornelia Funke (though this skews slightly younger).

disclaimer:  review copy received from the publisher.

Wings of Fire #1: The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland

Wings of Fire #1: The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland (Scholastic, July 1, 2012, ages 8 and up) , is a winner. If you have a fourth grader who's read these series--Warriors, the Guardians of Ga'hoole, and How To Train Your Dragon--and who is casting around for a new book, this is the book you should give him or her. It is a must-have for the fourth grade library (which I don't think I've ever said about a book before) and I enjoyed it rather a lot myself!

Five dragonets, each from different tribe of dragons, were taken from their homes before they even hatched, and raised in hidden cave, knowing only each other and the cold dragon guardians who watched their every move. They were raised to be the dragonets prophesied to end a terrible and bloody conflict that was tearing apart the seven tribes (Sandwings,Mudwings, Skywings, Seawings,etc.)...but the Talons of Peace, the dragons who are raising them, are afraid that they've failed to meet the terms of the prophecy. Instead of a Skywing, they ended up with a Rainwing--a tribe of dragons sneered at for being lazy and useless.

And so the guardians plan to dispose of Glory, the little Rainwing.

But the five dragonets are a team, and when they hear that Glory might be killed, they plan a daring escape. Each has their own strengths, and their own weaknesses, and none has ever been outside before. Almost immediately, they are captured by the evil Queen of the Skywings, whose greatest joy is to pit dragon against dragon in her arena of death....There the Skywing champion, barely more than a dragonet herself, defeats all comers. But the Dragonets of the Prophecy are different from other dragons--they are not bound by loyalty to their own tribes, but too each other. And that loyalty will save them....

Told from the point of view of Clay, a Mudwing, it's story of friendship, impossible expectations, and a world at war.

I sincerely enjoyed this one! I must confess I was doubtful at first, a bit condescending even, but once the dragonets had escaped from their cave, it was a page-turner! It helped that the various dragons were sufficiently characterized to be interesting, and that the world building of all the different kinds of dragons was fascinating. It helped even more so that the fights to the death in the Skywing arena weren't sugar-coated, but deadly serious, and that the Skywings champion was a surprisingly sympathetic character. It also helped that I, in general, am a fan of plucky orphans with interesting skills raised in miserable circumstances but making good, and as these dragonets are de facto orphans, they fit the bill nicely.

But even beyond those details of story, what pleased even cynical me most was that there were themes here that I was happy to have my son think about--loyalty to friends transcending blind loyalty to tribe, the need to empathize with other points of view, the need to try your best to shape your own destiny, and not be someone's tool, and the senselessness of war.

The sensitive young reader might be troubled by some of the violence--dragons really do kill other dragons. But no beloved characters die, so it's not too upsetting. It's very much in the child mindset, though--the main character, Clay the Mudwing, really wants to find his own mama....

My son has already started passing the ARC I got around to his friends, and you can bet that when the sequel comes out next January, we'll be there at the bookstore. Its kid appeal is greatly enhanced by the guide to all the different types of dragon, with appealing illustrations and nicely organized information.

Note to the author: this is a series that absolutely cries out for a website, with all the information about the different types of dragon expanded, and legends of the different dragon tribes, and little stories about the characters when they were babies, and printable pictures of the dragons etc. I looked for such a website, but didn't find it--please let me know if I missed it!

Here's another review, at SciFi Chick.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.

Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman (Random House, July 2012, YA) has been getting nothing but the best reviews among the bloggers I read regularly (at least I assume so--I haven't actually read the reviews (cause of not wanting spoilers), but words like "loved" and "enjoyed" are easy to spot without reading).

So my expectations were high as I entered this alternate-European city, where humans and dragons lived side by side in an uneasy truce, and a girl named Seraphina made music.

Here is how I reacted:

First hundred pages: I am not sure I am liking it all that much. Seraphina is glum. Things are not cheerful. There is no brightness. There seems to be lots of exposition. I am not sure what this story is actually about. However: music = good, lots of interestings saints = good, interesting dragons = very good.

Next fifty (or so pages): fascinating, but am still uncertain. Seraphina still unhappy. Not sure I like her. Unhappy feelings all around. Am anxious. But curious.

Remainder of book: Wow, this is great! Happy (though complex) male main character! Seraphina not so unhappy! She has friends! Interesting world building, political machinations, and mystery--but what's really important is that there is now good reason to hope that Seraphina won't be sad and lonely forever.

Clearly I was Weak Minded and In Need of Comfort Reading last week (some weeks I am stronger, and curl up happily with One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, or some such). But still, the point remains valid. Seraphina (the book) is not giddy, light fun. Seraphina the girl isn't either; she's described as prickly. And this came across to me too, as well as to the other characters--she's hard to like at first, very much preoccupied with her own self, very reluctant to show warmth. But both book (as the perspective of the story become broader, and new characters were introduced) and girl (as she became a more active player in her own life, kind of surprising herself in the process) grew on me, until by the end I was just racing along happily, caught up in just the sort of lovely fiction-rush that I was hoping for.

One last bit of quibble-- the ease which which one major issue became a non-issue was a bit of a cop out. I was expecting more intelligently written complexity from Hartman here...and didn't get it.

Here's a fascinating interview about Seraphina's path to publication at a daydreamer's thoughts, where I saw this alternate cover (edited to add, thanks to commenter Laviania--it's the UK cover)...I think the black and white one is much truer to the feel of the book, and to Seraphina's own character, and much more distinctive! Although I do like the nuance of Seraphina's face becoming the second dragon eye.

And (again edited to add) there's definitly a sequel coming--from Rachel Hartman's blog yesterday "I have a few nearly-empty weeks to work on my sequel revisions." Which is very encouraging, revisions being so much closer to done than writing!

The Stones of Ravenglass (Chronicles of the Red King, Book 2), by Jenny Nimmo

The Stones of Ravenglass (Chronicles of the Red King, Book 2), by Jenny Nimmo (Scholastic, June 1, 2012, ages 8 and up).

Long before the story of Charlie Bone began, a boy named Timoken fled from his African home, protected by strong magic from the supernatural enemies who killed his parents, and who seek to destroy him. The first part of Timoken's adventures is told in The Secret Kingdom, in which he finds new friends (including a lovely camel, with whom he flies through the air, and three magical leopards, as well as human companions), looses his sister, and survives attempts to kill him.

In The Stones of Ravenglass, Timoken's hope that he and his companions have found a safe haven in a British castle are shattered by the evil machinations of its steward, and Timoken is imprisoned. He and a mysterious wizard (along with Gabar, the camel) escape...and Timoken sets off on a new quest.

This time, instead of looking for refuge, Timoken will build one--a place where he and his friends can be truly safe. But in a war-torn land, safety is hard to come by...even when a friendly dragon joins your cause.

This series is, I think, extremely well suited for children on the younger side of the "middle grade" spectrum--third and fourth graders. As with the first book, there's a fairytale feel to it, a sense of events unfolding in a somewhat episodic way, a story told to the reader as if it happened long ago. It's a story filled with magic--rather miraculous magic, coming from a source external to the main character, in fairytale fashion.

In the first book, I felt somewhat distanced from Timoken as a person--here that distance is lessened, but he still seemed to me "the hero of the story" rather than a fully developed character. I think that although this might not be what I as a grown up am looking for, this might make him a very appealing hero for the younger reader--I imagine it would be very easy for such a reader to step into his shoes, and trill to his adventures.

And those adventures, although not on the grand and sweeping scale of the previous book (which might be a disappointment to that one's readers), have exciting moments of great magic (literally), and the ensemble cast of camel, kids, wizard, and dragon work well together to create an interesting story.

In short: a good one for its target audience, though not one I'd insist that the five or so grown-ups I know of who visit here looking for books for themselves (you know who you are!) get a hold of for their personal reading pleasure.

And yay! for an African boy hero, shown as such on the cover. 2012 has been a year in which multicultural speculative fantasy and science fiction seems especially thin on the ground (I have only encountered 2, besides this one*), and so I hope it does really well.

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)

*In case anyone is curious, these are The Book of Wonders, by Jasmine Richards and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Please let me know of any others you've read!

Dragonswood, Janet Lee Carey

Dragonswood, by Janet Lee Carey (Dial, 2012, YA/upper middle grade, 403 pages)

When the main character gets tortured in the first thirty pages of a book, I become doubtful (waves to Queen of Attolia). When, for the first fifty or so pages, things continue to be anxious, I become increasingly unconvinced that the book that will provide the pleasant escape I seek on a Saturday morning when late afternoon company is coming and the house is a disaster (I would not want to read, say, Finnekin of the Rock while planning a large dinner party).

Happily for me, I had read enough reviews of Dragonswood to know that it wasn't a dark and grim and bloody story. And I read the end (which didn't spoil much, and was reassuring). At any event, here I am, with Dragonswood having been read and enjoyed, and a small fraction of the house tidying completed during breaks.

Brief synopsis: In a medievally almost-Britain, a girl named Tess is accused of witchcraft, and tortured. She and the two girls whose names were wrung for her by the inquisitor take refugee in Dragonswood--the forbidden sanctuary for dragons and the Fey established by the old queen and king. But it isn't at all clear how Tess and her friends will find a true sanctuary for themselves on an island where witch hunting runs amok, a twisted regent has control of the kingdom, and human people are starting to look hungrily at the protect lands of the forest...

Meg longs for her husband and child. Poppy longs for someone to love her for herself, not her beauty. And Tess, abused all her life by her father (so much so that one ear, boxed more times than she can remember, is deaf) longs for a chance to live her life according to her own desires--drawing, riding, climbing trees, and answering whatever it is that calls her to cross into the forbidden world of Dragonswood. With, perhaps, the added bonus of a partner in life who will respect her as an equal.

Little does Tess know that she might well get her happy ending (this is me being cunningly unspoilerish), thanks to the intervention of the mysterious folk who have found sanctuary in the heart of Dragonswood...

This is a book I would give in a heartbeat to a twelve or thirteen year old girl. Once past that the graphic violence, witch-torturing-wise, it has a very pleasant fairy tale feel to it, with lots of magical happenings and adventurings--nothing too twisted and convoluted, but interesting enough to keep my attention. The love between Tess and the character with whom she ends up is romantic, fairy-tale love (all they get to do on page (as in "on stage") is a bit of kissing near the end).

Some weight is given the story by the fact that Tess has been damaged, both emotionally and mentally, by the abuse that she has suffered, and a significant part of the story arc deals with her resultant fears and uncertainties; however, this too is fairy tale-ish in its conclusion, when her validation comes (primarily) from her romantic other (although she does get some validation from her interactions with various dragons, which was nice).

Even though I'm in favor of things working out just fine, my one substantive quibble with the book is how easily this is accomplished in the end...it was a bit hard to swallow an unpleasant character's change of heart. My other reservation is that the change of mood and pace, from the first dark part of the book (Tess in mortal peril from the witch-hunters) to the second (Tess's journey shaped in mostly pleasant ways by others, although she does exercise some brave agency in true fantasy heroine-style) is a bit jarring. That being said, I'm glad, for purely selfish reasons relating to my own need for pleasant escapism, that the mood did change!

Recommended in particular for fans of Jessica Day George--it has a very similar feel to both her dragon series and to her fairy tale retellings. And now I must find Dragon's Keep, the 2008 companion novel to this one (set a few generations before this one)...

p.s. Regarding historical fantasy--I'm not adding Dragonswood to my list of Historical Fantasy. Even though it is set in an alternate Britain at the time of the Crusades, it felt too much like a fantasy realm, taking place, as it does, in an imaginary kingdom with nothing more solid to make it historically situated than a few mentions of real people (Richard the Lionheart and his brother John).

Revenge of the Horned Bunnies--Dragonbreath, book 6, by Ursula Vernon

Revenge of the Horned Bunnies--Dragonbreath, book 6, by Ursula Vernon

The Dragonbreath books are mind candy for the young reader, and rather fun for the grown-up, as well. Mixing text dominated pages with graphic novel-esque spreads, they are easy, friendly, and fast books to read. The stories about Danny, a young dragon with fire issues, and his pals, are strange and suspenseful (and often very funny), the illustrations are utterly brilliant in their simple humor and charm. And as an added bonus, there is now a central girl character--a lizard named Christina, who is smart and skeptical as all get out.

But when the gang (Danny, Christina, and Wendell) head off to cowboy camp, along with Danny's annoying little cousin, Spenser, not even Christina's skeptical mind can deny that the creature Spenser secretly befriends is a jackalope!!!!! Yes, horned bunnies are real...but this one seems to be the last of its kind. All its friends and family have disappeared....

And it's up to Danny and co. to solve the mystery, and foil the nefarious plot that threatens the survival of the jackalopes!

This book has one of my favorite Dragonbreath pictures ever--Danny grooming his horse. And the jackalope is cute as all get out (even cuter than the picture on the cover). The story has swing, and made me chuckle (poor smart Christina, stuck with a camp counselor determined to apply nail polish!), and a message about protecting endangered species from mankind's greed that I liked lots.

A fine addition to a truly stellar series with just tons and tons of kid appeal, one of the few series for which I will I will go to the bookstore on release day. Give these books to your reluctant elementary schooler, or, like me, to your confidently reading middle schooler, or, also like me, to young Dutch cousins....they won't disappoint.

Here are my posts about the other books:

Book 1: Dragonbreath
Book 2: Attack of the Ninja Frogs
Book 3: Curse of the Weir-Wiener
Book 4: Lair of the Bat Monster
Book 5: No Such Thing as Ghosts

Ivy and the Meanstalk, by Dawn Lairamore

Ivy and the Meanstalk, by Dawn Lairamore (Holiday House, 2011, mg, 227 pages), was one of the books I received for Cybils review (I'm trying to get all these reviewed, or at least mentioned, before the end of January!). It's the sequel to Ivy's Every After, but I think it can be read just fine as a stand-alone.

Ivy is the princess, and heir, of a small kingdom of little international importance. She cares little for learning her responsibilities--she's much rather be off flying with her dragon friend, Elridge, or spending time with her other best friend, the stableboy Owen.

Then disaster strikes, in the form of an angry giantess whose magic harp was stolen long ago. The giantess holds Ivy's kingdom responsible (even though it was a guy named Jack who actually took it) and vows to rain giant boulders on it until she gets her harp back! It's up to Ivy to face her duty to her kingdom, and to go to the island nation Jack established after his adventures up the beanstalk, and get the harp....

So Ivey, Elridge, and Owen set off, in a hopeful spirit--surely Jack's heirs wouldn't mind returning stolen property? Turns out, they would, very much indeed. The cult of Jack, and the love of gold, are the only two important things to the king of the volcanic island nation Jack established. And although the king is bound to offer Ivy sanctuary (since her own kingdom is being destroyed by boulders), he's not about to give up the harp. It's up to Ivy and her friends to use their wits to make off with the harp themselves...breaking through all the layers of protection that have been placed around it.

It's a book that's fun on the surface--the high jinks of the mean-stalk and the giant's realm in the sky, the golden improbability of Jack's island, and such like--but there are also themes within it that make for interesting pondering. Who, for instance, gets to make history--is Jack a great hero or a selfish thief? Is it ethical to steal something, when by doing so you save lives? Why shouldn't a princess be friends with a stable-boy? And if you are a fun loving girl with a dragon friend, who is also the heir to a kingdom, when is it time to start growing up and become responsible?

Because of these questions, I enjoyed Ivy and the Meanstalk more than I did Ivy's Ever After (my review) although that is a perfectly fine, fun book. This one is more directly a fairy-tale reimagining, and so interested me more on that count as well--I had never really thought about what happened to Jack after the whole beanstalk business, and I enjoyed seeing where he ended up!

I probably won't be re-reading them for my own pleasure, but I'd happily recommend them to eight to ten year olds. There's nothing particularly violent or disturbing--just good fantasy fun.

Dragon Castle, by Joseph Bruchac

Joseph Bruchac has made a name for himself as a writer of novels, poetry, and short stories drawing on his Abenaki heritage. In Dragon Castle (Dial, 2011, middle grade, 352 pages), he turns to the other side of his family, with a book that draws on the folktales of long ago Slovakia.

In Hladka Hvorka, a castle that legend says was raised from the earth in a single day, there is a huge tapestry depicting the legend of Pavol, who conquered a dragon and defeated the oppressive evil that had overrun his small ancestral homeland. Young Prince Rashko has always been fascinated by the tapestry, whose scenes seem to change in subtle ways every time he stares at it. But little does Rashko know that the darkness that Pavol drove back is about to take over his land once more...and that he himself might be called upon to meet the dragon again....

Rashko knows that his parents and older brother are profoundly lacking in intelligence. So when the evil Baron Temny arrives while his parents are away on a journey down the mysterious fifth direction, to the fairy land that lies just beyond, and his brother becomes besotted by the enchantments of Temny's mysterious daughter, Rashko knows that it's up to him to somehow save his land and its people.

But, as was the case with Pavol before him, Rashko won't be fighting alone. Because many of the old stories are still true...and the castle holds many secrets.

I enjoyed this one lots--it has a beautiful mythic resonance to it, and lots of twists! Not everything, or everyone, is as they seem. Rashko's journey into legend takes the reader there too, and that is a lovely thing. It even has touches of humor, that liven things up nicely, and the dragon is a fascinating being. And it is very character-rich. Action doesn't dominate, although it's there--Rashko has to think, and observe, and even revise his opinion of others in order to succeed.

For the first half (give or take) of the book, Rashko's story alternates with Pavol's, and although both are interesting, it contributed to a somewhat leisurely build-up of story. But once things get going, they get going with a vengeance! Bruchac avoids something that irks me in a number of fantasy adventures--the too-brisk dispatching of the bad guy(s). Instead, his dispatching is a long episode full of the details of the confrontation, and although the introduction of two more-or-less new characters (both girls with phenomenal knife skills) right there at the end seemed a tad surprising/forced, it was still a satisfying way to bring the book to a close.

I'm surprised that this book hasn't gotten more attention around the blogs! Do read it, if you like the sort of books I like--it's not one I'd say is "a must read because I loved it so very much" but one that I liked lots (very much so indeed in places) and ignored my children (poor neglected darlings) in order to finish.

Note on age: it's perfectly fine as a middle grade read, but the complexity and twisty-ness of past and present (and a small bit of threatened violence by the bad guys toward one of the castle girls) might make it better for the older end of that age group, moving YA-ward. So not for nine year olds, but for ten year olds (and up), if that is a meaningful distinction!

Dragonbreath: No Such Thing As Ghosts, by Ursula Vernon

Dragonbreath: No Such Thing As Ghosts, by Ursula Vernon (Dial 2011, middle grade, 208 (small) pages in a generous font with lots of pictures)

It's Halloween, and the young dragon, Danny (dressed as a vampire), and his iguana pal Wendell (dressed as a hydrogen atom) are about to hit the streets. But (horror!) Danny's dad says they're stopping to pick up a lizard classmate named Christina on their way to the candy-filled suburbs...and Christina (dressed as a salmonella bacterium) isn't Danny's favorite person--after all, she doesn't believe that dragons are real.

But when Big Eddy the Komodo Dragon forces Danny and co. to trick or treat at a spooky haunted house, Christina's rational mind is going to be forced to admit that impossible things can exist (poor Wendell had to admit this ages ago, when confronted with sentient potato salad, bat monsters, etc). Trapped by locked doors in the haunted house, Christina is about to face her worst nightmare--a Clown Ghost!!!!! Fortunately, Wendell's mother insisted that he bring a flashlight...

It's all very spooky and entertaining, and boy, was it a pleasure to bring it home and watch my picky readers devour it! It's more text heavy than others in the series--fewer graphic novel-esque scenes, but that just means there's more reading to be done, which is fine with me, and it's slightly less surreal, and more a predictable story, than others in the series (no one can predict, for instance, a sentient potato salad, my favorite character from book 3), but I don't think that's a negative thing--if anything, it broadens the book's appeal.

In short, it's a most satisfactory addition to my beloved Dragonbreath series.

My own favorite part was Christina's logical, intelligent mind--through Christina, the young reader is introduced, for instance, to the principle of Occam's Razor. She is no mere sidekick to Danny and Wendell, but a lead player in unravelling the mystery of the haunted house. Here's her reaction when they finally meet the ghost face to face:

"But your existence postulates the existence of some form of afterlife, so what does that entail? Clearly you can manifest visually and to a limited extent physically, but is your range constrained?" (page 184).

Yay for smart girl lizards!

Here are my thoughts on

Book 1: Dragonbreath
Book 2: Attack of the Ninja Frogs
Book 3: Curse of the Weir-Wiener
Book 4: Lair of the Bat Monster

Darke, by Angie Sage

I came a bit late to the Septimus Heap party--the series was already up to book five (Syren) by the time I read the first book (Magyk). But it was a pleasure playing catch up, and the good thing about coming to a series late, of course, is that you don't have to wait too long between books. That being said, I felt like I waited plenty for the sixth book, Darke (released this June, mg, 656 pages)--I was looking forward to it lots!

I won't try to summarize what happens to Septimus and co. in Darke--if you haven't read the series, it will make no sense, and if you have, but haven't read Darke, you'd probably rather just read the book yourself! So instead I shall offer General Thoughts.

These books are epic at the small-scale level of personalities and happenstances, but with enough larger-scale world building to make the small stuff matter. A lot Happens in these books. Darke, for example, takes place over the course of just a few (difficult) days, but still one gets the sense that 656 pages was barely enough for Sage. The reader get an immensely detailed account of countless threads of plot. And on top of that, she has a large cast of characters, both major and minor, and all of them, from the Princess Jenna to young, mostly irrelevant Maizie Smalls, from the dragon Spit Fyre (who plays a pivotal role) to four orphaned ratlets (who don't), are given time in the spotlight.

All of this detail was of interest to me too, but I think this lush profusion of characters and their concomitant minutiae might be a bit much for some readers--it doesn't always move the plot at hand forward. I myself am a fast reader, and over the past five books I've come to care about these people, so it was fine with me.*

That being said, Darke does have a strong, nay even exciting, plot, that moves forward inexorably toward the nail-biting end! I liked it lots.

*viz character vs plot-- my own imaginary world building consisted mainly of drawing every inhabitant of a pseudo-Medieval town, and writing their back story. None of them ever did much of a plot-like nature; few of them even get to do anything in their portraits....So I'm very sympathetic to Sage's panoply of personages!

City of Ice, by Laurence Yep

City of Ice, by Laurence Yep (Starscape, a Tor imprint, 2011, middle grade, 384 pages), is the second book in a trilogy set in 1941 in an alternate version of our world, a place where there are dragons, and shape shifters, and all manner of other "mythological" creatures living among human-kind. And in this world, there are also gods and goddesses...not always kindly, but incredibly powerful.

In City of Fire, young Scirye swore an oath to the goddess Nanaia to avenge her sister's death at the hands of a foul dragon, and his foul master, Mr. Roland, and to rescue the priceless artifact that they had stolen, one of the Five Lost Treasures of Emperor Yu. If Mr. Roland gains control of them all, he will have mastery over the whole world.

Scirye and her brave lap griffin are joined in this quest by two street urchins Leech and Koko, both of whom have more to them then meets the eye, and by Bayang, a dragon whose mission to assassinate Leech (its a long story) takes a back seat to the more important goal of revenging herself on Mr. Roland's dragon, an ancient enemy of her people.

In City of Ice, the quest of the odd assortment of companions takes them to the frozen north (where Canadian mounties patrol the skies riding on the backs of giant birds, among other marvels). There they must confront Mr. Roland and his minions (both human and monstrous ones), but there they find new friends, not least of whom is the great bear spirit of the north himself.

The action and adventure are virtually non-stop, and the pages are full to the brim with fantastical creatures and places. Yep's world is a place where ancient peoples are alive and well-- the Sogdians, the masters of the Silk Route, are thriving as traders in the wilds of the north, and Scirye's people, the Kushans, ancient rulers of the region around Afghanistan and northern India, are still a major world power. For shear extravagant fun with alternate world building, this series is hard to beat.

My one reservation is that there wasn't enough time spent on character development (plot comes out ahead here, hands down). I think that part of the problem, for me, is that the point of view keeps switching between the three main characters, so that we don't get to see for ourselves what they are thinking and feeling, we are told. The introduction of several new major characters here in City of Ice further diluted the personalities of the main characters.

There is, however, one truly interesting relationship, that between the boy Leech and the dragon Bayang (who is hands down the most interesting character). I'm curious to see how this relationship plays out in the third book, but what I'm really hoping for that Leech and Scirye, who up to this point seem not particularly interested in each other in any way, despite being travelling companions, Notice each other and emotional complications ensue. One thing that makes it clear this is a middle grade book is that so far in the series there are no hints of any romantic feelings whatsoever!

Perhaps in book 3, City of Death, things will be different, and this will happen. I'll definitely be reading it--like I said, the world building is tremendously fascinating...and even though I lean toward character, I still enjoy an exiting story, such as this series offers.

This is a series that deserves more attention than it seems to have gotten--what with the adventurous pursuit of the bad guys, the direct participation of sundry deities in the course of events, the panoply of monsters and mythological creatures, and the quirky cast of characters, it's one I'd recommend to younger fans of Percy Jackson, for whom the romance aspect of that books was the least interesting part!

Added bonus: the diverse cast of characters (none of the central characters are European, or of direct European descent), and the non-Eurocentric mythological background, makes this another one for my multicultural sci fi/fantasy list.

Here's another review, at Eva's Book Addiction

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

A Tale of Two Castles, by Gail Carson Levine

A Tale of Two Castles, by Gail Carson Levine (Harper Collins, 2011, middle grade, 226 pages)

12-year-old Elodie's heart is set on become a mansioner--an actress--in the city of Two Castles. But when she gets off the boat that had brought her from her home, she is dismayed to find that she is too poor to pay the fee to become an apprentice. In a stroke of good luck (although Elodie isn't sure of this at first), she is instead taken under the wing of the town's resident dragon.

Meenore, the dragon, is the town's detective (self-appointed), as well as a prosaic seller of toasted cheese in the market, and IT (the gender of dragons is a private matter) wants Elodie as an assistant. IT is all set to hone her powers of observation and deduction. But before Elodie can be accustomed to life in the dragon's lair, a full-blown mystery erupts.

Count Jonty Um, the kindly (but feared) ogre who lives in one of the two castles, asks for Meenore's assistance in finding his missing dog. But the dog is just the tip of the iceberg--soon Jonty Um becomes the victim of attempted murder, and, transformed into a mouse by the power of cat persuasion (shades of Puss in Boots), goes missing. And then, when a poisoner strikes the greedy king, Elodie (a handy scapegoat) finds herself the chief suspect....

It will take all her intelligence and all her skills as an actress (and considerable help from the dragon) to solve the mystery.

It's rare to see a fantasy novel that centers around an engaging mystery, and this focus made A Tale of Two Castles fresh and engaging. It's clever, and it's fun, and the characters (especially the dragon) are interesting as all get out! I can't speak to the quality of the mystery qua mystery--I'm bad at Clues, and I (blushes) read the ending half-way through. I did, however, think that the Badness of the main Bad character was too unforshadowed and unexplained. Not a lot of depth there.

But I do rather like the message that Levine's story sends. The distrust the townsfolk feel for the ogre is a serious matter that in large part drives the plot, but this issue is left for the reader to reflect on without it being heavily underlined. And Elodie's own initial feelings for both ogre and dragon are full of the fear of the unknown and different; by the end, they have both become her firm friends. (My mind kept reading the ogre's name, Jonty Um, as gentilhomme, so I felt friendly toward him from the beginning--I wonder if Levine had that in mind!)

This is a lovely sort of book to give the younger middle grade reader (there's no romance, just a crush Elodie has on a handsome roguish type), but, as I said, I enjoyed it just fine myself. It doesn't back a big emotional punch, but it was fun. Fans of fairy tale re-imaginings will enjoy the elements of Puss in Boots that Levine incorporates--it's not exactly a retelling of that story, but considerable bits of it can be found here.

Super-Dragon, written by Steven Kroll, illustrated by Douglas Holgate

I am off to another archaeology conference, this time as part of a panel on digitizing regional archaeological information. All of the professional business of the past week has meant less time to read, but I've received several picture books to review, and managed to finish one of them....

So today I offer Super-Dragon, written by Steven Kroll, illustrated by Douglas Holgate (Marshall Cavendish, 2011, 28 pages).

Drago (a little dragon) longs to compete in the upcoming Dragon Contests. But "You're too little," says his obnoxious big sister. "You don't know how to fly yet," says his mother. "Maybe next year...when you're bigger," says his dad.

Fortunately, a friendly bird takes Drago under its wings, and, after a few brave tries, Drago is flying!!! For two weeks, he secretly practices...and you can guess how it all plays out.

It's fun and engaging; any little kid who likes dragons, and who sometimes feels Too Young, will enjoy it. And for those of us who are Manatee (as opposed to Tiger) Mothers, it's nice to have book on The Importance of Practicing to offer our children, in hopes that they will pick up the message themselves without us having to constantly loom over their shoulders!

(disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher)