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Dragon Charmer
“...a delightful tale that will engage young readers with its lively story and memorable young hero.” – The Children's Bookwatch Since her father’s death early in 2080, thirteen-year-old Cady has been her mother’s right-hand girl. Mom has to work now, and it seems that the only time Cady isn’t worrying about her mother, her younger sister, or herself is when she's dreaming about dragons. Yet even in her wildest dreams, she never imagined becoming a dragon keeper, a Dragon Charmer, responsible for the care and well-being of a fierce, brave, beautiful, and endangered dragon. Most dragon literature of the day is defamatory and prejudicial and focused on the fearsome presence of a few mischief makers. No one has written about dragons melting snow or moving clouds with the breeze from their wings; no one has written about the dragons’ song. So, many years ago, Merlin’s apprentice Maxine established the Society for the Preservation of Dragons, or Dragon Charmers. Members learn that dragons grow slowly and receive a new scale only when a person does an unselfish deed. A magical reference book catalogs the name of the person responsible for the good deed, as well as the time and date of its occurrence. Cady is shocked to see that her father’s name appears in the book many times—and that the last entry was only a day ago. He's still alive! Dragon Charmer takes place in a future world where water is in critically short supply, where biblio-vox audio books have replaced the old-fashioned books that had to be read with the eyes, where pets are not allowed, and where schooling is accomplished through group interactive television. In this world, Cady works through the mystery of her father’s disappearance and the dangerous responsibilities of secretly caring for a forbidden creature, and she learns that both her father and her dragon hold a few amazing secrets of their own.
111 pages, Perfect Paperback
First published June 1, 1990
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June 26, 2019
loved loved loved this!! here is the review I wrote for the News Gazette
I have said before in this column that we have an incredibly talented community of writers here in central Illinois. One case in point is Ruth Siburt, who used to write this column. Her novel, Dragon Charmer, has just been re-released by Royal Fireworks Press, with a new cover and some tie ins with creative writing projects for upper elementary students.
The book, first published in 1996, is still marvelous and the new cover makes it far more appealing for young readers. Dragon Charmer is available on Amazon, but make sure you get one with the updated cover. The previous cover suggests the book is far more ominous and scary than it, in fact, is.
Dragon Charmer is set in the future and is dystopian, but at a perfect (ie not too scary) level for young middle grade readers. In this future, water is a precious resource carefully rationed and used only for drinking, no one is allowed any pets and fines are one million dollars, and all books (called vox-books) are recorded, rather than on paper.
“Imagine having enough trees you could cut them down and use them for books,” the main character, Cady, marvels.
The story also moves at a good clip. Cady (named for early women’s rights pioneer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton) is helping her mother take care of the family since her father was killed in a commuter train catastrophe. That means often watching her four-year-old sister, Sara. The story opens with Cady at the library where she has requested more dragon vox-books from the librarian. Cady is obsessed by dragons. Within the first chapter, Cady learns that the librarian is a dragon charmer and, much to Cady’s surprise, the librarian says she is one too.
Dragon charmers take care of dragons, which, due to the efforts of famous dragon slayers like King Arthur and St. George, are almost extinct. In addition, the no-pets law includes dragons. As soon as Cady agrees to take on the job of dragon charmer, the librarian happily passes her the dragon (Arson Welles) in her charge. Arson is tiny; he fits in Cady’s pocket. Much of the story, though certainly not all, focuses on everything Cady learns as she tries to protect and nurture Arson.
Dragons grow very slowly and take constant care. They grow a single scale at a time and each scale appears only when a human performs an act of kindness, which is also brave. So when Cady sat by Will Rainer, the weird kid in school, and shared her sandwich with him, Arson Welles earned a scale. When Cady expresses surprise that that act was considered brave, the librarian says, bravery can include “daring to make friends with people no one else likes. … That is one of the bravest deeds on Earth. It is also one of the most rare.”
Each kind/brave act is cataloged in a magical book. This catalog provides an interesting plot twist as Cady sees that her father, who is supposed to be dead, has been showing up in the book for his good and brave deeds.
One thing I love about Dragon Charmer is it doesn’t answer all the questions it poses, which shows a great respect for the readers. You will enjoy puzzling over the nature of dragons and dragon charmers well after you have finished the book.
I have said before in this column that we have an incredibly talented community of writers here in central Illinois. One case in point is Ruth Siburt, who used to write this column. Her novel, Dragon Charmer, has just been re-released by Royal Fireworks Press, with a new cover and some tie ins with creative writing projects for upper elementary students.
The book, first published in 1996, is still marvelous and the new cover makes it far more appealing for young readers. Dragon Charmer is available on Amazon, but make sure you get one with the updated cover. The previous cover suggests the book is far more ominous and scary than it, in fact, is.
Dragon Charmer is set in the future and is dystopian, but at a perfect (ie not too scary) level for young middle grade readers. In this future, water is a precious resource carefully rationed and used only for drinking, no one is allowed any pets and fines are one million dollars, and all books (called vox-books) are recorded, rather than on paper.
“Imagine having enough trees you could cut them down and use them for books,” the main character, Cady, marvels.
The story also moves at a good clip. Cady (named for early women’s rights pioneer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton) is helping her mother take care of the family since her father was killed in a commuter train catastrophe. That means often watching her four-year-old sister, Sara. The story opens with Cady at the library where she has requested more dragon vox-books from the librarian. Cady is obsessed by dragons. Within the first chapter, Cady learns that the librarian is a dragon charmer and, much to Cady’s surprise, the librarian says she is one too.
Dragon charmers take care of dragons, which, due to the efforts of famous dragon slayers like King Arthur and St. George, are almost extinct. In addition, the no-pets law includes dragons. As soon as Cady agrees to take on the job of dragon charmer, the librarian happily passes her the dragon (Arson Welles) in her charge. Arson is tiny; he fits in Cady’s pocket. Much of the story, though certainly not all, focuses on everything Cady learns as she tries to protect and nurture Arson.
Dragons grow very slowly and take constant care. They grow a single scale at a time and each scale appears only when a human performs an act of kindness, which is also brave. So when Cady sat by Will Rainer, the weird kid in school, and shared her sandwich with him, Arson Welles earned a scale. When Cady expresses surprise that that act was considered brave, the librarian says, bravery can include “daring to make friends with people no one else likes. … That is one of the bravest deeds on Earth. It is also one of the most rare.”
Each kind/brave act is cataloged in a magical book. This catalog provides an interesting plot twist as Cady sees that her father, who is supposed to be dead, has been showing up in the book for his good and brave deeds.
One thing I love about Dragon Charmer is it doesn’t answer all the questions it poses, which shows a great respect for the readers. You will enjoy puzzling over the nature of dragons and dragon charmers well after you have finished the book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review