Haskell, Merrie: Handbook for Dragon Slayers (2013)
MG, like most of the books I read nowadays. However, because of the non-condescending language, I think this one falls into a category I found somewhere called "senior children". Officially it's marketed for children 8 to 12, but I think most eight-year-olds might need some help with the vocabulary. I loved it.
From the title, I was expecting one of those simple parody books that explain types of dragons and what kind of weapons and potions you need to defeat them. I was happy to be wrong. Not that there isn't some discussion of that, but the story is more about a princess with a clubfoot, the limited options available to her in a quasi-medieval fantasy setting, the real issues of running away with a couple of wannabe dragon-slayers (food, sleep, bruises, blisters, how long it takes to recover from being flung around violently), and how to remove the bridle from a horse that wants to stop being part of the Wild Hunt, and how much that costs. There is also discussion of honor, responsibility, and loyalty. Resilience, transformation, and love are also keywords.
MG, like most of the books I read nowadays. However, because of the non-condescending language, I think this one falls into a category I found somewhere called "senior children". Officially it's marketed for children 8 to 12, but I think most eight-year-olds might need some help with the vocabulary. I loved it.
From the title, I was expecting one of those simple parody books that explain types of dragons and what kind of weapons and potions you need to defeat them. I was happy to be wrong. Not that there isn't some discussion of that, but the story is more about a princess with a clubfoot, the limited options available to her in a quasi-medieval fantasy setting, the real issues of running away with a couple of wannabe dragon-slayers (food, sleep, bruises, blisters, how long it takes to recover from being flung around violently), and how to remove the bridle from a horse that wants to stop being part of the Wild Hunt, and how much that costs. There is also discussion of honor, responsibility, and loyalty. Resilience, transformation, and love are also keywords.