Sutherland, Tui T- The Dragonet Prophecy Narrated by: Shannon McManus
Albert, Melissa- Tales from the Hinterland
I don't know if I've written about this before, but at my last library job I had more kids approach my desk with questions, and I always felt so sorry for them. I never knew what they were talking about; I'm so behind on children's books. (Eh? What's that, sonny? Heidi Hucklepuck? Eh?) That's why, as a part of my year's reading challenges, I had one category of kids/YA/nonfiction. I believe that this is the only kids' book that I've read this year, and likely the only one that I will read. I'm on a non-fiction roll. I already have a non-fic for next month.
I wanted to read The Dragonet Prophecy because, once the poor child was able to get me to understand what he was talking about, I found that we had parts of the series, Wings of Fire, and I filled the holes. They were incredibly popular after we got the first books; they were on hold all the time. I loved seeing the kids so involved in this series.
The Dragonet Prophecy is pretty wild. A bad dragon cracks a dragon egg on purpose and kills another dragon right off the bat. I didn't give a spoiler warning because this probably on page 3.
Here are my notes: This was kind of heavy for a kid's book, but I know that they are really popular. I listened to the e-audiobook, and I remembered my fifth grade teacher reading to us about Edmund and the White Witch and the Tripods from The White Mountains, so I figured that I dealt with stuff about this dark when I was a kid.
The jist is, all the dragon clans are at war, and there's a prophecy about a group of dragonets (kid dragons) that will end the war. Thing is, some of the grown dragons are really enjoying the the fighting and are bent on preventing the prophecy, so the dragonets are brought up in hiding.
It's no real spoiler to say that of course, they break out into the wider world. They encounter all kinds of cruelty, including (now there will be spoilers) imprisonment, forced combat, and parental abandonment. While there is alot in here that is sad, the overall tone of the book isn't. The dragonets have a strong bond and are very supportive of each other, and most of their adventures turn out OK. (not all)
I was impressed by the narration by Shannon McManus: the main dragonet characters are varied enough that I could soon tell them apart in their conversations, and there is a large cast of adult dragons that are all different. I doubt that I'll follow this series any further, but I may watch the TV show when it comes out. (I've heard there's a Netflix series being made). It's good to have an idea of what the kids are reading.
A young adult book: Tales from the Hinterland
The book that is referenced in The Hazel Wood and The Night Country. Recommended for lovers of fairy tales who have actually read some of the Grimm versions. These are all blood and sharp teeth.
In The Hazel Wood, the main character is a teenage girl whose grandmother wrote a cult-favorite book of fairy tales called Tales from the Hinterland. (I LOVE that title.) The MC, Alice, is very interested in the book, but her mother is estranged from her grandmother, and won't let Alice read the book. Whenever there were little snippets of the stories, it was so interesting, and I was over the moon when I read that Melissa Albert was releasing the fairy tale book.
They aren't nice stories, but so weird and interesting. There's alot of the bargaining that goes on in old fairy tales. The tale of Alice-three-times is told in The Hazel Wood, and the stories of Hansa the Traveler and Katherine come up in The Night Country, but they're told in full with this book.
The cover decoration isn't as lavish as the first two books, but there are illustrations for each story. I recommend this, but DON'T read it to little kids!
I just saw on Bookshop that Melissa Albert has a book coming out next year titled Our Crooked Hearts. She has a knack for titles.