Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George (321 pages)
Creel Carlbrun is very poor. Her parents have died and she has been sent to live with her equally poor aunt and uncle. Since they have no money to take care of her, Creel’s aunt comes up with a plan to strand Creel with the local dragon and hope that a dashing knight will come rescue her and marry her. Creel, more realistic than her aunt, agrees to the plan, but once she meets the dragon, she strikes a deal with him: Let her leave with one item from his hoard and he will not be bothered with fighting knights. The dragon agrees and Creel chooses a unique pair of slippers from the dragon’s hoard. Creel manages to make it to the King’s Seat with the intention of working as an embroiderer, and she gains the help of Prince Luka when in town. Princess Amalia, a horrible girl, notices Creel’s shoes and tricks Creel’s co-worker into helping her steal the shoes - but why would a princess want a peasant’s shoes? You will have to find out what power the shoes hold when you read Dragon Slippers!
Miss Simer’s Rating: **1/2
In a land with seven kingdoms where people with unusual talents are known as Gracelings, we meet Katsa, a young woman who is Graced with killing. Others in the seven kingdoms are Graced as well - with weather foresight, mind-reading, sword-fighting, etc.- and this “gift” leaves most Gracelings as outcasts of their societies. When Katsa meets Po, a fellow Graceling who has impressive combat skills, she becomes intrigued with him and eventually can’t stand not to be near him. Her involvement with Po will lead to terrible danger though and she must rely on her Grace to survive. I chose to read this novel because I had heard other librarians across the country singing its praises. I put it on hold at the public library in November and finally my reserve came through two weeks ago. I have really enjoyed reading this book and I know that many eighth-graders would enjoy it as well!
This book is about two twins named Josh and Sophie Newman. Their parents are archaeologists who have to move from town to town. In San Francisco, Josh got a job at a book store. One day, while working, he discovers his boss is a 500-year-old alchemyst trying to escape from Dr. John Dee. Sophie, working across the street, sees the explosions from inside the building and runs to help. Dr. Dee gets what he came for, but Josh saved the day when he broke the most important part off. Nicholas Flamel, the book store owner, has to take Josh and Sophie to safety before he comes back for what he wanted. The twins have to abandon everything and have to stop Dr. Dee from finding and killing them. This was a great book and I would suggest it to anyone who likes fantasy and action books!
This is not your typical fairy tale princess story! Young Christian wanders away from his family as a small child and is found by a grumpy troll who lives in a cave in the forest. Edric, the troll, raises Christian as his own child. While growing up, Christian spies Princess Marigold from afar and begins a pigeon-mailing relationship with her. Princess Marigold is quite unhappy because her mother, Queen Olympia, is desperately trying to marry off Marigold to any prince who will take her. Ed decides to send Christian off into the “real world,” where he is able to meet Marigold in person when he takes a job in her castle. He overhears Queen Olympia plotting to kill Marigold and the king so she can take the throne and Christian vows to save the princess. Will there be a happily-ever-after for this couple?
Matilda experiences culture shock as she moves from Lord Randall’s manor and becomes a
In this third installment of The Dark is Rising series, the Drew children are back for another adventure with their Great-Uncle Merry and their new friend Will. When we last left the Drew children, they had uncovered the grail from its hidden compartment in a cave. They had protected it from the Dark, but the papers which told how to translate the grail’s secret encrpytions was lost in the sea. When we last left Will, he had just discovered he is the last of the Old Ones, protectors of the Light. In this novel, the children and Will work together to retain the grail, which has been stolen by the Dark, and uncover the lost papers before it’s too late. The Dark is rising and the only way to stop it is for the leaders of the Light to work together.
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Alfred Kropp’s uncle and guardian informs him of the chance of a lifetime.