The Last Dragonslayer

The Last Dragonslayer
by Jasper Fforde
296 pages
Middle School+

As a foundling, Jennifer Strange had a rough childhood: competing with the 40 other girls for the only handkerchief to use as a pillow each night.  But despite that, or maybe because of that, she is super strong, stands up for herself, and is capable of managing a magic company while the actual manager is missing.  Kazam Magic is one of the only two magic companies in the kingdom, in a world where magic is on the decline.  And Jennifer has to get their wizards jobs, keep the wizards on task (since they are notoriously scatterbrained), and budget the books.  A lot of responsibility for a (almost) sixteen-year-old.

And then, from one of her most dependable wizards, comes one of the most startling prophecies of all: the last dragon in the world is going to die. And not only that, but Jennifer is somehow deeply involved.  How can she run Kazam, teach the new kid the ropes, take care of her magicians, and resolve this issue with the dragons???

So, this book was GREAT!  I loved it!  Loved it so much I went out and found the sequel and devoured that book as well.  I liked the second, but not quite as much as the first.  Both are full of tongue-in-cheek humor and an amazing contrast between the practical way and the whimsical wizarding way.  It provides a new perspective on a world that is slightly familiar, but full of discoveries at the same time.

Jennifer is a great balance of practical thinking in a strange world. She has to have this endless patience to deal with the whimsies of the wizards and at the same time stay on target enough to accomplish what the company has been paid to do.  Great character for a teen book.  Lots of fun seeing how she approaches and solves problems.

Overall, definitely a book that recommend.  I can see this appealing to both boys and girls, starting in middle school and into high school.  Also a great introduction to this author for younger readers, since most of his works are aimed more toward adults.  Interesting book, fun read, and best of all, dragons!  (Yes, multiple!  But you have to read it to find out...)

Tiger's Voyage (Tiger's Curse Series #3)

Tiger's Voyage (Tiger's Curse Series #3)
by Colleen Houck
560 pages
High School+

Kelsey, Kishan, and Mr. Kadam have finally rescued Ren from the villainous Lokesh, but there is one big problem: Ren doesn't remember Kelsey.  While everything should be right with the world, Kelsey's world is continuing to crumble.  Not only does Ren not remember her, her very presence cause him physical illness.

While Kelsey tries to cope with this new development, the search for the treasures of the goddess Durga continues.  To break the next part of the curse, not only will they have to dive in the ocean, a new skill for all of them, they will also have to face five dragons, each with their own trial to overcome.  While this might be the best treasure yet, this might also be the hardest trial they have faced so far.

So, my feelings about this book are mixed, just like Tiger's Quest.  I still like the adventure part, but the love triangle is still driving me crazy!  Was I just a super level headed teenager/young adult?  Her reactions to things just seem over the top.  Yes, she is getting confused by everything going on, but oh my goodness, she is super dramatic.

I did LOVE the dragons!  One of the things I love about dragons in general is how different each culture sees them, and even within each culture, dragons can have varied personalities and traits.  This book lives up to that.  While each of the five dragons has some traits typical to dragons (loves treasure, magical abilities), Houck did a great job of having each be different from the last.

Overall, good book, I'm sure teen girls understand and sympathize Kelsey more than I do.  I will read the next, to see what happens, but that doesn't mean I will enjoy all the drama that the love triangle creates.  Fun dragons, fun adventure, but a little too heavy for me with the love triangle business.

The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire Series #1)

The Dragonet Prophcey (Wings of Fire Series #1)
by Tui S. Sutherland
336 pages
Elementary+

In the land of Pyrrhia, dragons roam.  Divided into several kingdoms, they are governed by several queens and have various allies and enemies. When war rules the land, a prophecy comes forth: five dragonets will be born on the brightest night, and are destined to bring peace to the land by choosing one queen.  The dragonets are coming...

Clay, Glory, Starflight, Sunny and Tsunami grew up together, in a cave, always hearing that they are the chosen dragons of prophecy.  They have read scroll after scroll about the outside world, but now they want to experience it for themselves.  When they overhear the elder dragons discussing getting rid of one of them, everyone decides that it is time to leave.  Clay, a little unsure about everything, helps rescue his friends, leads them out of their cave.

Instead of getting out and exploring the world, Clay and his friends walk right into the claws of one of the queens.  Capture and separated from each other, they long for the security of the cave again.  How will they survive and how will they fulfill the prophecy?

I really loved the detail that went into creating this world and all the different types of dragons.  In the front of the book there are diagrams of the different dragon types, so you can see the differences in body, size and abilities.  Lots of thought was put into this book and it has tons of background.  This does help the reader to distinguish between them, especially helpful at the beginning when the reader has several different dragons to keep track or right away.

I did feel like there were lots of stereotypical characters and not tons of depth to them.  Clay is the insecure big dude, and there is the sassy girl, and the know-it-all.  As the series progresses, I hope that they are more fleshed out, and develop more beyond these stereotypes.  The reader does learn more about Clay right at the end, but I almost wish that passage had been earlier in the book, so you could see Clay grow more throughout the book, instead of just at the end.

Regardless of the characters, I did like the story.  There is the great prophecy that has lots of murkiness that can be interpreted different ways.  Lots of foreshadowing and possible twists in future books.  This book set up lots of friends and connections that can come back later in the series.  I will be interested to see where it all goes!

Overall, great book for that age range. The first few chapters is a little slow, but after that it picks up really quick.  Good for girls and boys (main character is a boy!  Get them hooked!).  Good start to a series, the sequel is out and I will definitely look forward to more!

Dealing with Dragons

Dealing with Dragons: Book One of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles
by Patricia C. Wrede
240 pages

Cimorene is a princess, but doesn't act like one.  Instead of blond, beautiful hair, she has dark, curly, unruly hair.  She learns fencing, not needlepoint.  She prefers cooking to courtly manners, and even badgers the court magician into teaching her a few spells.  Finally having enough of her rash behavior, her father starts arranging a marriage for her.  Rather than face a marriage to some snobby prince, she runs off.

After getting some mysterious advise from frog, Cimorene decides to follow it.  After all, not following advice gets you in trouble.  After knocking and snapping her fingers, Cimorene enters a small cottage only to hear some voices deciding her fate.  One wants to eat her, one doesn't really care, and one wants to keep her.  After arguing, the voice that wants to keep her wins, and Cimorene is surprised to see the voice belongs to a dragon.  While belonging to a dragon seems far better than being eaten by one, she is still not quite sure what being a dragon's princess entails.

After a few weeks, Cimorene has never been happier.  She organizes treasure, cooks cherries jubilee, and even visits giants!  But princes have been showing up to try and rescue her.  Quite put out by their efforts (she enjoys serving a dragon!), she plots and plans ways to get the princes to leave her alone.  But she is not the only one with plots and plans.  Wizards, dragons and witches all play parts in a plot to overthrow the dragon king!

I love this book, plus the series that follows!  Lots of humor, wit and drama (but not on Cimorene's part).  Definitely the rebel princess, Cimorene is practical, honest, and straightforward.  She is clever, funny and lots of fun to read about!

This is a great book for kids, late elementary and up.  The action is fast, the dialogue funny, and the plot line is great.  I have loved this book for a long time, and like to reread it every now and then.  Great book!  One I love to recommend to people!

Eon and Eona

Eon and Eona
By Alison Goodman
576 pages
High School+

Eon is training to be a Dragoneye- a conduit of power for one of the twelve dragons.  Each year, 12 boys are chosen to train and present themselves as candidates.  The problem is, Eon is not a boy; Eon is a girl, really Eona, crippled by a wagon, but with spiritual gifts that allow her to see the dragons.  A female Dragoneye is unheard of: if she is found out, she will be killed.

Chosen by the dragons in remarkable fashion, Eon is trained in palace. Here she learns of intrigue and plots extending beyond just the Imperial court.  Even the Imperial Prince is involved deeply in this. She must decide where her loyalties lie, who her allies really are, and where she fits in all this mess.

On top of all of this, while her dragon manifested strongly at the Dragoneye trials, her connection seems to be growing weaker every day.  She must master channeling the dragon's power to help save the land.

So, the story telling style and plot were fantastic.  Lots of twists, turns and such.  The narrative voice was great, and the book kept me interested.  While sometimes, it got a little too focused on the intrigue, it evened out and eventually was a good balance of plot/action and intrigue.  The world is vivid, and I LOVE the dragons and how they are intertwined with the world! Great setting, interesting characters, and unique plot lines.

Some things that weren't necessarily as good: Boys are NOT going to be into this book because of all the "girl issues" present in this book.  It might even make some girls uncomfortable! And this includes talking about her monthly cycles, woman body functions vs men's, and more.  Not only this, but it talks about eunuchs, cross-dressers, and other gender issues.  This is definitely a slightly more mature book.

Another thing was how much Eona tried to deceive herself and denied her feminine side.  While I understand this book is about her hiding the fact that she is a girl, it seemed like she was hating the fact that she was a girl and would rather be a boy.  Since this book is obviously aimed more at girls, I would hope that it would be more friendly to girls, not so down on them.  Eventually she does come to accept, and even be happy that she is a girl, but so much of the books are spent without that more positive outlook.

Overall, I will be choosy about how I recommend this too.  As an adult, I was able to handle the more mature aspects, but most kids/teens would be made very uncomfortable about them.  Older teens, specifically girls, would be better for this book.  But, I do want to check out some of the author's other works, and see if the writing is just as good!

Two Princesses of Bamarre

Two Princesses of Bamarre
by Gail Carson Levine
241 pages
Late Elementary+

Addie and her older sister Meryl could not be more different.  While they are both princesses, Meryl is adventurous, brave, and strong.  Addie, on the other hand, is timid, completely scared of spiders, and shy.  Since Addie dreads the day that Meryl will leave on her adventures, she makes Meryl promise not to leave her until she is married.

And then the unthinkable happens: Meryl catches the Grey Death, the sickness that no one ever recovers from.  When Addie's useless father fails to attempt to save his daughter's life, Addie realizes it is up to her alone to go adventuring to find the cure.

What a great book! This is definitely one to recommend to people of all ages.  There is nothing bad or objectionable in the book, and teaches some great lessons about what it really means to be brave.  Readers will enjoy following Addie on her adventure, and seeing how she changes throughout her journey.  This is a great gift idea for kids too (since the holidays are coming up!).

Seraphina

Seraphina 
by Rachel Hartman
480 pages
Middle School+

Update!  I read this again for the YALSA 2013 Best of the Best Challenge!  I loved it just as much, if not more than I did last time.  I was more eager to read, so it went really fast this time. The world is so vivid, beautiful and well crafted. 

I noticed this time the glossery in the back, so if there was someone or a place mentioned that I didn't understand, I was able to look it up. For example, several times, Daanites are mentioned with some significance.  Once I looked it up, I understood more about those characters, how it affects them and why they said it when they did.  Very helpful tool!

I also saw lots of foreshadowing, both of events that happen later in the novel, but also stuff that hasn't happened yet.  In addition to all the people in her head that she still needs to meet, there are several more themes that need to be resolved.  The dragon rebellion/civil war will be very interesting!

Still an awesome book!  Definitely recommend it!  I did lower it to middle school age, mostly because I didn't really find anything that is mature content or anything like that which would be inappropriate for middle schoolers.  It is a big book, but I've seen little kids with big books before!

Seraphina lives in a world where humans have made peace with the dragons, trying to live together. Dragons shift into human shape to understand the humans, including their strange and foreign emotions. Dragons see those emotions are diseases, to be excised from the brain. Each species has difficulty understanding the motivations of the others' actions.

Into this world comes Seraphina, child of a human lawyer and musician dragon.  An abomination to either species, she hides her true self from everyone, including herself.  Her musical talents start bringing her into popularity, and the attention of even the royal family.  She must hide your half-dragon nature from everyone, even those she comes to care about. Inside her mind, she keeps a "garden" with characters, who she thought were imaginary, that she starts finding in real life.

On top of all of this, it's the time of the Treaty Festival, the anniversary of peace between the humans and dragons.  Seraphina must help plan the festivities, protect the royal family from unknown plots, and find a rogue dragon who she believes is her grandfather.   How can she reconcile her true self with how others around her will perceive her?  And can she protect all those close to her?

Seraphina is a great book, with a beautiful world that it created.  This book takes the stereotypical relationship between humans and dragons, and takes it to another level.  The world is realistic and even the seemingly minor characters have depth and connections.  While at times it is slow moving, it takes that chance to build the story, and adds layers and layers to the story.

Overall, I really loved Seraphina!  Seraphina herself is a character that I can identify with, and seeing her growth throughout the book was rewarding.  Of course I love dragons, and this was one of the most original story with dragons I've read in a long time.  Seems like it is well set up for a sequel, and if there is one, I will definitely read it!  Recommend it for teens and adults alike!  Great book!

Dragonsong and Dragonsinger

Dragonsong and Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

Menolly was raised in a sea hold, learning to fish and sail with everyone else.  But her true dream is to be a harper, playing her pipes and writing new songs.  Encouraged by the resident harper, she learns many musical skills, and her love for music only increases.

When the harper dies, her hopes of becoming a harper die with him.  Her father demands that she does "useful" work, hides her from the new harper, and forbids any music in her life.  When Menolly cuts her hand and it gets infected, she is even further discouraged in her dream.  Depressed and looking for something different, Menolly runs away.

In her struggles to survive outside of her hold, Menolly not only finds fire lizards, a rumored beast like a small dragon, she also manages to impress nine of them at a hatching.  With her nine friends she has to keep feed but who keep her company, she starts on a new life.

These two books are a great introduction to the fantastic world of Pern.  They are suitable for young teen readers, where most of the other Pern books by McCaffrey I would only recommend to older teens, due to some mature content.   Dragonsong and Dragonsinger also help the reader understand some of the basics of the world of Pern.

I like how these two books are not focused on the famous dragon riders, but instead focus on a normal girl.  I think a lot of girls would really identify with Menolly and her difficult relationship with her father.  She wants her life to be one way, but he has other ideas.  She struggles to find a place in that world that she likes, and since she can't find one, decides to find a world that she can fit into.  Menolly shows strength, tenacity, and courage, something we can all use in our own lives.

Dragonsong and Dragonsinger are books that I find myself coming back to every so often.  The writing is well done, like everything McCaffrey does.  Menolly is a character many people can relate to.  Any dragon lover should read these books!

How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Translated from the Old Norse by Cressida Cowell

As the viking chief's son, Hiccup is the very opposite of what it means to be a viking.  He loves to read, he's timid, he's small and can barely hold a sword.  While all the other kids his are a vicious warriors in the making, Hiccup has no hope of ever living up to his father's expectations.

The day finally comes for him to get his dragon!  Will he get the most ferocious?  Will he get the scariest?  Instead, he ends up with a small, toothless dragon that can't even scare a rabbit.  How can Hiccup live up to being the chief's son, and when a giant sea dragon threatens the village, can he and Toothless save the day?

This is a hilarious book!  Hiccup is the complete opposite of what a viking should be, and yet finds ways to fit in.  The drawings and the notes from Hiccup are great.  Kids that like "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" would like this too.  While very different than the movie, I would say this is definitely better.  I liked the movie, but loved the book!

If you can find a copy of this on audio CD, listen to it!  It's even funnier read out loud!