I have found one of those rare books
that I can recommend to my almost twelve-year-old. She likes fantasy,
princesses and dragons. She likes old books from a simpler time. She does not
like anyone dying. She does not like anyone getting sick. She does not like
violence. She will not read The Hunger
Games. She does not want to hear about it. The movie is out of the
question. And every other child in her grade seems to be on the Young Adult
dystopian literature bandwagon. Where does that leave her? She wants nothing to
do with Harry Potter. She put her
foot down when I tried to read The
Chronicles of Narnia out loud.
I had run out of ideas. She has been
rereading books. She has been waiting for new volumes from series she has
enjoyed. And she is not aging backwards.
But I started reading Dealing With Dragons a few day ago and I
am pretty sure I have a new (old) series for her. The second of a four volume
set, Searching for Dragons, was a
Caudill Nominee list nearly two decades ago. So, of course, I grabbed book one
first.
Meet Cimorene, an unusual princess. She
is the seventh daughter and the aberration. Her older sisters are all blond,
beautiful and petite. Cimorene might be pretty enough, but she hasn’t stopped
growing yet. What prince will want to look up into his beloved’s eyes? Not only
does she run around in brunette braids rather than properly coiffed tresses,
but she would much rather fence than embroider.
At first, Cimorene begged fencing
lessons off of the armsmaster, cooking lessons off of the chef, Latin lessons
off of the court philosopher and magic lessons off of the court magician, all
to battle her boredom. And then her father, the king found out. Not only was
she forbidden to continue her extracurricular lessons, but she was packed up
and off to meet her future husband.
Time and time again, Cimorene is
reminded that she is not a proper princess and that certain things – a princess
learning magic?!?!?! – simply are not done. Cimorene decides that improper
works for her and promptly leaves… runs away. She finds herself volunteering to
be a dragon’s princess. Which, of course, simply isn’t done. Dragons kidnap
their princesses; knights rescue and marry them.
Except that Cimorene blossoms as Kazul’s
princess. She gets to use her Latin reading ancient dragon histories. She gets
to use her magic looking for a way to protect herself from accidental dragon
fire. Most importantly, she gets to use her cooking skills as her dragon’s
primary chef. Cimorene spends her time cleaning and organizing Kazul’s treasures
and book shelves. And periodically, she is interrupted by a suitor seeking to
save her from the dragon’s clutches. Cimorene has quite the time convincing the
knights that she is perfectly happy as a dragon’s princess and does not need
rescuing.
Cimorene draws plenty of attention as
the new princess on the block. She has many visitors including other
princesses, witches, more dragons and evil wizards. Cimorene discovers that the
wizards are up to something that may involve the death of a dragon or two.
Cimorene, a stone prince, a bird’s feather and a few buckets of soapy water
save the day and Cimorene earns herself a new position!
Recommended for 4th-8th
grade girls who enjoy a great fractured fairy tale! I never grew too old for
them myself.
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