Dragon Slippers

So I just finished reading Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George. Wow! What a great read! I've been meaning to read it for a while now, but never seemed to take the chance to sit down and read it. (I'm sure that attending the Provo Children's Book Festival helped me finally kick the bucket and start it because I met Jessica Day George and remembered how great of a writer and storyteller she is). I was slightly skeptical of the story just because there are so many kids of books out there that have to deal with dragons (and I've read a lot of them) and just reading the inside flap kind of turned me off. Yet I pushed through my prejudices and discovered a little jewel of a book.

Creel is an orphan that lives with her aunt and uncle in a poor farming town. To cut the costs of all the children her family has to take care of, her aunt decides to give Creel to the local dragon in hopes that she can then have the wealthy lord's son rescue and then marry Creel. Plans don't go exactly as her aunt had mapped out for Creel, and the next thing you know Creel has made a friend in the local dragon and has decided to make her way in life by becoming an apprentice in The King's Seat (the country's capital). Unlike other dragon stories, George has created dragons that have hoards of unique objects, and not of gold- some dragons hoard stained glass windows, tapestries, shoes, and even dogs. Before Creel leaves the dragon she's just encountered, she ends up with a pair of odd blue sippers from his personal hoard. Through a series of events Creel learns just how magical these slippers are and what she can do to use their power to save their country.

This was a really fast read, and an enjoyable one to boot. I've loved all of George's books so far, and Dragon Slippers didn't disappoint. To tell you the truth, as Mormon children's authors go, I like her a lot better than Shannon Hale; I'd take Dragon Slippers (and most definitely Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow) over The Goose Girl any day. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, and the "trequel"as well. (Alright, so I made up a word. What I really mean is that I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel to the second book, or the third in the series thus far).