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What Members Thought
Nov 05, 2014
Amanda
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
oh-my-teen-book-group
Interesting concept, but D-U-L-L. Notice any exclamation points? T'was that bored.
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Maybe it's just that it's Christmastime, but The Story of Owen reminded me a lot of It's a Wonderful Life. Thematically anyway: the resilience of small communities, the quiet, dutiful hero. Of course, in It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey's heroism is incidental, and Owen's is staged. Rather more like the creation of the movie than the story within. This part of the novel intrigued me as well - how Siobhan is being trained, basically, as a propagandist. That isn't seen as problematic in this b
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This was weird. In a good way. Except for when it wasn't. It read in places like a textbook...about an alternate reality in which the world developed exactly as it did, but with dragons. So, Michigan is a place where car factories were located, but since dragons are attracted to carbon emissions, it's been abandoned. Queen Victoria, Hitler, Joseph Conrad, even Eloise and Abelard exist. With dragons. I prefer Johnston's That Inevitable Victorian Thing, because the characters felt more immediate.
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Plagued by fire-breathing dragons that feed on carbon emissions, Michigan's lower peninsula has been abandoned after the rise-and-fall of Fordism, the upper peninsula is now part of Wisconsin, and Canada faces scorching annihilation unless a family of dragon slayers (and local teenagers trained in Tai-Chi) triumphs in this clever and humorous alternate world history set in present-day rural Ontario.
Owen's story as a dragon slayer in training is told by Siobhan, his music-composing/algebra-tutori ...more
Owen's story as a dragon slayer in training is told by Siobhan, his music-composing/algebra-tutori ...more
Excellent Alternative History/Dragon Fantasy. Well-thought-out, well executed and really great story. I'm impressed at how well-developed Owen's Lesbian aunts are. Totally free of Stereotypes and important in their own right. There is suspense and tension, but a refreshing lack of drama as the characters figure themselves out and focus on the problems at hand. I also love the very Canadian setting. Highly recommended for ages 12 to 15.
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it is with heavy heart that I am shelving this book under "books for teens that deserve praise and attention but books that are too smart and contemporary for my seventh graders to enjoy."
While I loved the premise of the carbon-emissions hungry dragons and the, shall we say, revisionist history of Canada and the US, my students aren't savvy enough in content or cultural/historical references to appreciate this kind of humor, and they are too trusting of the universes their characters build aroun ...more
While I loved the premise of the carbon-emissions hungry dragons and the, shall we say, revisionist history of Canada and the US, my students aren't savvy enough in content or cultural/historical references to appreciate this kind of humor, and they are too trusting of the universes their characters build aroun ...more
3.5
Dec 19, 2014
Taliah
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2015-morris-nf-challenge
