Tag Archives: dragon

Review: The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,
The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell

The Poisoned King (Impossible Creatures #2)
Katherine Rundell
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published September 11, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Poisoned King

Return to the magic of the Archipelago in the dazzling sequel to the runaway, #1 New York Times bestseller Impossible Creatures, hailed as “an instant classic” (Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal Winner for The One and Only Ivan)!

Christopher Forrester woke to find a dragon chewing on his face—and his heart leapt for joy! He’d been dreaming of going back to the Archipelago, the secret cluster of islands where all the creatures of myth still live, and here was his summons.

But there is a poison spreading in the Archipelago. Rooting it out will involve a daring rescue mission on the back of a sphinx, a stealthy entrance to a dragon’s lair, and a death-defying plan to save a prisoner held in the heart of a castle. At the center of this storm is Anya: a small girl with a flock of birds at her side, a new-hatched chick in her pocket, and a ravenous hunger for justice.

Katherine Rundell’s second thrilling installment in the Impossible Creatures series involves castles, dragons, and revenge—the things of which great stories are made. The splendors within are brought to life with more than fifty illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures.

My Review

The cameos from some of the minor characters from Impossible Creatures were one of my favorite parts of this book. I really enjoyed getting to see what happened to Irian and Nighthand, but I loved that the tiny dragon, Jacques, was back in this story, too.

I have to say that after the painful losses in the first book, I was braced for tragedy in this one. While I don’t want to spoil anything, I will say that this book wasn’t as devastating as the last one.

The hardcover edition has beautiful artwork throughout. The endpapers have a map of the Glimoria Archipelago surrounded by some of the different mythical creatures. Like the first book, this one has an illustrated glossary of creatures in the back.

The story moved forward at a smooth pace, keeping me engaged all the way through. I am really enjoying the series and definitely want to read the next book when it comes out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
The narrator sees two adults kiss (from a distance).

Spiritual Content
Magical creatures exist in the story.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Someone poisons several others as part of a power grab. Some magical creatures intend to kill or eat the main characters. One character vows to get revenge on the person who framed her father for murder. The characters hear that someone falsely accused of murder is sentenced to be executed.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Tea Dragon Festival by K. O’Neill

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

The Tea Dragon Festival (The Tea Dragon Society #2)
K. O’Neill
Oni Press
Published September 17, 2019

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Tea Dragon Festival

Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago.

With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.

My Review

I absolutely love K. O’Neill’s beautiful fantasy communities. They create such unique characters with a wide variety of skin tones and fantasy-inspired features. This story is set in a different village (and at a different time) than the first book. Initially, I wasn’t sure of the connection between the two stories beyond the presence of tea dragons. But then, shortly after the story begins, two characters from the first book appear as visitors to Rinn’s village.

You could read this book without having read the first book in the series. The storytelling here is pretty gentle, so it’s accessible to very early middle grade readers. My daughter is seven and enjoyed this one.

Rinn and Aedhan’s friendship is such a sweet part of the book. I loved how that developed. I also loved the way that the sleep mystery resolved. I’m looking forward to reading the final book in the trilogy.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have magical abilities. Bounty hunters look for a nature spirit that can cause people to fall asleep for long periods of time.

Violent Content
A mythical creature attacks a group. A dragon fights off the creature but is injured.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my local public library. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

The Ogress and the Orphans
Kelly Barnhill
Algonquin Young Readers
Published March 8, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Ogress and the Orphans

A fantasy about the power of generosity and love, and how a community suffers when they disappear.

Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times. Fires, floods, and other calamities have caused the people to lose their library, their school, their park, and even their neighborliness. The people put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow who promises he alone can help. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer. (At least, no one has seen a dragon in his presence.) Only the clever children of the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress at the edge of town can see how dire the town’s problems are.

Then one day a child goes missing from the Orphan House. At the Mayor’s suggestion, all eyes turn to the Ogress. The Orphans know this can’t be: the Ogress, along with a flock of excellent crows, secretly delivers gifts to the people of Stone-in-the-Glen.

But how can the Orphans tell the story of the Ogress’s goodness to people who refuse to listen? And how can they make their deluded neighbors see the real villain in their midst?

My Review

I was not prepared for the timeliness of this book. I’m not even sure I read the back cover copy. I’ve heard countless amazing things about the book from other reviewers and friends, so I picked it up on the strength of those recommendations. Plus, I loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon, also by Barnhill, so I had high expectations.

Within the first few pages, I was hooked. The story centers around a small town that’s not doing so well. It used to be lovely, and the children in the home for orphans try to remember that loveliness and figure out why it disappeared. The other villagers seem convinced that the ogress who lives just outside town must be the reason. But the older children remember her moving in after the town lost its shine.

Periodically, a narrator speaks directly to the reader as an eyewitness to past events. I loved this, but I can see some readers finding it annoying. If it was simply an excuse to break the fourth wall and fill readers in on information the other characters don’t have, it would be kind of gimmicky. However, the author reveals the narrator’s identity late in the book, and it so perfectly fits in with the story world she’s created and the story’s overall message. That moment when we learn who the narrator is landed beautifully with me. I felt like all the pieces of the tale had snapped into place.

Another thing that the author does so well is balancing darkness and light in this book. The town is failing. Neighbors don’t trust one another. The children don’t have enough to eat. At the same time, whimsical elements offer hope and create a sense of wonder and magic, even in the bleakness. One child hears the wooden beams of the house, made from old oak trees, tell the stories of the town and its inhabitants. The ogress bakes treats and leaves them on the villagers’ doorsteps. The crows speak to one another in a language the children learn from a book in their reading room.

Conclusion

This beautiful story examines the value of community and the kinds of events that erode or destroy our connections to one another. But it doesn’t stop there. Barnhill also shows how a courageous few speaking up against injustice and taking steps to show kindness and protect the vulnerable can change the course of others. Each person has a role in rebuilding connections and creating a more just community.

This book is as whimsical as it is timely. The storytelling speaks truth in love and reminds us who our best selves are. I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s absolutely worth a read. This one is going on my summer read-aloud list for sure.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
There are some fantasy-based characters, like dragons, ogres, etc. Dragons have a spiritual practice that evolved over time in which they live as an animal for a period of time as an exercise in developing empathy or broadening their experience.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Demonizing of an outsider. References to and brief descriptions of a building fire.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , ,

Dragon Slippers (Dragon Slippers #1)
Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published February 1, 2011 (Orig. 2007)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Dragon Slippers

Creel, the heroine of Dragon Slippers is hardly a damsel-in-distress. After her aunt totes her out to the local dragon in desperation (with the hope that the local prince will rescue her from certain death and marry her), Creel refuses the haughty prince and finds friendship with the dragons, who set her on a journey to the center of the kingdom with a pretty pair of what only seem to be ordinary slippers.

Along the way we discover Creel’s enormous talent at embroidery, and you can’t help but linger over the rich descriptions of her lovely tapestry-like gowns, which quickly make her the most sought-after dressmaker in the kingdom. But soon enough those mysterious slippers begin to wreak havoc, and it’s up to Creel to save the kingdom from disaster and defend the dragons from certain doom.

Creel’s feisty spirit breathes fiery new life into this epic world at every turn, making this one of the most memorable and fun fantasy debuts to hit shelves since Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart.

My Review

I know I read this book before, but I have absolutely no memory of my previous reading. I remember that I liked it so much that I gave it to two people, but reading Dragon Slippers again was like reading it for the first time. This time, I still loved it. I have some thoughts about a couple of elements that I think we took for granted or weren’t having conversations about in the mid-2000s when the book was published.

Disability and Discrimination

One of the minor characters, Larkin, walks with a limp. We never learn what causes it, but she faces discrimination for her disability. Her employer restricts her to the back room of the dress shop, refusing to allow customers to see her, as though her limp is shameful. This character makes some choices later in the book that are viewed as bad, and they do promote harm to the main characters in the story.

What I couldn’t help thinking about, and what never comes up in the course of the story is how the discrimination Larkin faced set her up to make those choices. For the first time, someone treated her as valuable and worthy. Sure, it was part of a manipulative scheme. But the narrative treats her like she’s a morally bankrupt character because she made the choice to follow someone in power who treated her well rather than addressing the societal problems that might have led her to feel those choices were her only opportunity for a better life.

Again, this was published almost twenty years ago, so we weren’t having some of the conversations about discrimination in children’s literature or having them so broadly then as we are now. I want to acknowledge that content in light of the conversations we are having and point out that even though we were perhaps less aware culturally, the discrimination was no less harmful and wrong.

A Girl and Her Dragon

One of the things I still love about the book is the relationship between Creel and the dragons, especially Shardas. I love that the dragons each collect different things. One collects shoes. Another continually adopts dogs. Shardas, Creel’s closest dragon friend, collects stained glass windows.

The connection between Shardas’s windows and Creel’s success in embroidery was also really cool. She models her first sample pieces after some of the windows in Shardas’s hoard, and those become a sensation in the town where she settles.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
One minor character speaks through sign language. Another has a disability that makes it hard for her to walk.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used once. The book uses some language that’s outdated and now considered derogatory to describe characters with disabilities.

Romance/Sexual Content
Reference to a kiss between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Creel’s people worship a trio of deities called the Triunity. It’s made up of two brother gods and a sister goddess. Creel prays to them in times of need. Other characters make reference to the Triunuty or individual gods/goddess.

Some characters are dragons, who have a kind of magic. They speak to one another through pools in their caves. They share a mysterious, powerful connection to a pair of slippers.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Creel witnesses a battle between two armed forces. She finds a dragon injured by spears and other weapons. Two dragons dive into a poisonous sea, one carrying a person.

Drug Content
References to people drinking ale to escape troubles and to celebrate an engagement.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: How to Train Your Dragon: How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

How to Be a Pirate (How to Train Your Dragon #2)
Cressida Cowell
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published February 1, 2010 (orig. 2004)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About How to Be a Pirate

When Hiccup finds a coffin at sea, he opens it to discover a riddle that will lead to the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly, the world’s greatest pirate and Hiccup’s ancestor. So Hiccup and his friends set out on a treasure hunt, determined to master the art of swordfighting. How else will they escape an island of murderous dragons, defeat a boatload of Viking pirates, and survive all the twists and turns their journey will bring?

Join Hiccup and his friends on another rollicking illustrated adventure, and discover the brilliant combination of magic, action, humor, and heart that has made Cressida Cowell a beloved bestseller around the globe.

My Review

My only complaint about this book is that there are practically no female characters at all. There are maybe a couple references to female characters in the village, but no one of note and none involved in resolving the plot of the story. It’s also an entirely white cast. I’m not at all sure of the history of Vikings and whether there are simple/creative ways to incorporate BIPOC into the story and what those might be.

That said, HOW TO BE A PIRATE is another wild and wacky adventure starring Hiccup and his dragon Toothless. There’s no overlap between this story and the second HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON movie. It’s an entirely different book, as the title suggests.

At first, it seems Hiccup is outmatched and ill-equipped for the Viking challenges before him. He’s both terrible at swordplay and at an apparent disadvantage with Toothless as his dragon to hunt for treasure.

As the story progresses, Hiccup faces challenges that require more than brute strength and a dragon with a super-sniffer. As with the first book in the series, it’s here that Hiccup finds his opportunity to shine.

Toothless is still my favorite character, though he’s totally different than the dragon in the movie. He’s kind of goofy and irascible but smart. He and Hiccup make a comedic pair, but they also have a great bond which shows when things get dicey.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. I don’t know that I’ll read the rest of the series, but I can definitely see why they’re so lasting and popular.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Characters are white Vikings.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some crude references to passing gas.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Brief references to Valhalla.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and battle scenes. One human character threatens to eat other human characters.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

The Great Texas Dragon Race by Kacy Ritter

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

The Great Texas Dragon Race
Kacy Ritter
Clarion Books
Published August 1, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Great Texas Dragon Race

Wings of Fire meets The Hunger Games in this debut contemporary middle grade fantasy stand-alone about thirteen-year-old Cassidy Drake, who enters the dangerous Great Texas Dragon Race to save her family’s dragon sanctuary.

Thirteen-year-old Cassidy Drake wants nothing more than to race with her best dragon, Ranga, in the annual Great Texas Dragon Race. Her mother was a racing legacy, and growing up on her family’s dragon sanctuary ranch, Cassidy lives and breathes dragons. She knows she could win against the exploitative FireCorp team that cares more about corporate greed than caring for the dragons. 

Cassidy is so determined to race that she sneaks out of her house against her father’s wishes and enters the competition. Soon, Cassidy takes to the skies with Ranga across her glorious Lone Star State. But with five grueling tasks ahead of her, dangerous dragon challenges waiting at each one, and more enemies than allies on the course, Cassidy will need to know more than just dragons to survive. 

My Review

This one got off to a slower start for me because I had a hard time with Cassidy’s attitude. She is very strong and spunky, which I like. But she’s also a bit arrogant, compulsive, and convinced she knows better than anyone else. It was hard not to agree with some of the adults or other kids around her who were telling her to slow down or think things through.

It’s a pretty solid kind of character for middle grade fantasy (see Percy Jackson, for example), but it isn’t my favorite kind of character to read, usually.

Once Cassidy entered the dragon race and met the other contestants, I felt like things smoothed out a bit. She discovers that being part of a team means working together, admitting you’re sometimes wrong, and trusting one another. So, I liked the ways she grew in those scenes and was able to connect with others.

Texas is a part of the south that I’m less connected to, so the parts of the story anchored in Texas culture didn’t necessarily speak to me the way I hoped they would. It’s probably because I’m just better connected to other areas of the south, so it just didn’t have the same resonance that a story set in Georgia or North Carolina would for me.

I still enjoyed the Texas setting, especially the ways in which the different kinds of dragons were described as having adaptations or traits that made them well-suited to the Texas climate and landscape.

The race scenes had a lot of energy and really great stakes. I liked that it wasn’t a straightforward point A to B race, but that it had tasks and riddles, too. That was really cool. I also thought the idea that dragons were working animals and the politics surrounding their rights were a big part of the story. I’ve never seen anything like that before.

All in all, this was a fun, really different book to read. It reminded me a little bit of TOGETHER WE BURN by Isabel Ibañez, except anchored in Texas culture and aimed at middle grade readers.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Cassidy is white. At least one minor character is Latine. Another is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some violent scenes in which dragons attack the racers and racers sabotage one another.

Drug Content
Some racers are caught giving their dragons an illegal steroid.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE GREAT TEXAS DRAGON RACE in exchange for my honest review.