As promised, here are some dragon story ideas for your Year of the Dragon reading. It was quite hard to narrow down this list and not give you 25+ books today. I quite enjoy a good dragon story, from my all-time favorite dragon, Kazul, in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, to the dragons who provide the perfect foil for the underdog heroes we love to cheer for, like Bilbo going up against Smaug in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and let’s not forget the allure of a cute little pet dragon like the ones in The Fallen Isles series by Jodi Meadows. There’s a lot of dragon stories to love out there. To help narrow things down, I decided to share some of the newer dragon stories I’ve read and enjoyed (plus the 8 others I just slipped in above 😁). Click on the title of each book to read my full review plus any content notes/trigger warnings.
Alliana, Girl of Dragons (Eva Evergreen, #0) by Julie Abe
Alliana is an orphan. She lives in a small town near the wild abyss with her Stepmother who makes her work from sunup to sundown at the inn. Her one bright spot in the day is her visits to Grandmother Mari who tells her stories and shows her the only kindness Alliana gets in the house. Alliana's life seems doomed to be stuck as an indentured servant to her Stepmother, but her one hope is the Farmlands Ball at which young people can get chosen to go to the Royal Academy and get training for a better job in the land. But after Grandmother's death Alliana feels stuck and Stepmother has made it clear that she'll do everything she can to stop Alliana from going to the ball. Her world is looking bleaker and bleaker, in fact if it weren't for her friends, Nela the witch in training, Isao the baker's employee, and Kabo the dragon, Alliana would have no hope at all. Because what future is there for a poor orphan girl on the outskirts of nowhere?
I absolutely loved this. It has definite elements of Cinderella (with a job opportunity as the goal of the ball instead of a romantic interest), flavorings of Kiki's Delivery Service (it has a Japanese fantasy setting and Nela reminds me a lot of Kiki), with touches of How to Train Your Dragon. Kabo is a dragon Alliana secretly befriends and trains when she can slip away from the inn, and gets more page time in the 2nd half of the book.
Target Readers:
Japanese Fantasy Setting Fans, Fairy Tale Rewrite Fans, Adventure Fans, Miyazaki Film Fans/Eiko Kadano Book Fans, Friendship Story Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon (Amy Wu, #2) by Kat Zhang, ill. by Charlene Chua
Amy's class reads about dragons and makes their own, but Amy's dragon doesn't look like the others. It doesn't have wings, and it has different horns, and a longer shape. Amy's friends says she did it wrong, but she knows she's seen a dragon like that. When she goes home she finds the source of her inspiration, and then creates her very own unique dragon for show and tell.
I like how this subtly celebrates kids who are a little bit of the East and a little bit of the West through the dragons in those cultures stories. A fantastic read for third culture kids or children of immigrants who feel like they don't completely belong in either culture but are a curious mix of both.
Target Readers:
Third Culture Kids/Immigrant Kids/Biracial Kids Story Fans, Family Story Fans, Grandmother/Granddaughter Story Fans, School Story Fans, East meets West Story Fans, Picture Book Readers
Dragons and Marshmallows (Zoey and Sassafras, #1) by Asia Citro, ill. by Marion Lindsay
Just before her mom leaves for a conference, Zoey discovers that she and her mom share the ability to see fantasy creatures unlike anyone else they know. Zoey's mom shares that she secretly cares for magical creatures when they need help in the barn out back, and Mom is leaving Zoey in charge while she is gone. For a few days nothing happens, but then a baby dragon shows up and Zoey and her cat Sassafras must figure out how to help the little creature using some research and scientific experimenting.
The former science teacher in me appreciates this series for the way Zoey models scientific inquiry (with her mom’s guidance and oversight), while the fantasy lover enjoys the cute baby dragon and all the other fantasy creatures Zoey and Sassafras help along the way.
Target Readers:
Budding Scientists, Fantasy Creature Fans, Fantasy Vet Fans, Problem Solving Story Fans, Lower Grade Fiction Readers
The Dragon and the Stone (The DreamKeeper Saga, #1) by Kathryn Butler
Lily's father was lost at sea, and since then she and Mom and Gran are barely making it. At least she has her father's stories, and the necklace she recently found in a book. Still, things are hard. And she thinks she's actually losing it when she sees a little dragon eating dinner out of the pot, and then in a series of strange events he takes her to a whole new world. There, Cedric (the little dragon scout) tells her that her necklace drew him to her. It signifies she is a keeper, but how she got the stone without any training or it going through the proper channels is a mystery. Cedric says she must stay until they figure out why the shrouds (big evil dragons) are after her, and besides, they could use someone like her who can create things with imagination. Lily is a bit dubious. She's also annoyed that the bully from school somehow got transported with them. Adam makes her life miserable, and now he's with her in a fantasy realm?! But when Lily finds out this is the land her father told her about in his stories, and it appears he really used to come here...and may even impossibly be there now, she must stay to find out the truth.
This is a deliciously imaginative fantasy portal adventure with some light Christian allegorical elements (it is tastefully done, not heavy handed at all...if you didn't know to look for it, it'd be easy to miss). Cedric is a delightful guide and loyal friend for Lily.
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Portal Story Fans, Adventure Fans, Christian Allegory Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Little Red Riding Hood and the Dragon by Ying Chang Compestine, ill. by Joy Ang
Wolf would like to set the record straight about the Red Riding Hood story. He was just an innocent spectator. That whole gobbling up and impersonating Granny? It was a dragon. A dragon who had no idea who he was messing with.
This is a creative reimagining of the Little Red Riding Hood story with a little martial artist, a hungry dragon, and an older China setting.
Target Readers:
Fairy Tale Rewrite Fans, China Setting Fans, Martial Arts Story Fans, Fantasy Fans, Picture Book Readers
A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1) by Marie Brennan
Lady Trent, famed for her knowledge and books on dragons, shares with her readers how she first became interested in natural history and dragons, sneaking books from her father's library and exploring the creatures around the family estate, wrestled with her passion versus expectations of society, found a suitor who would allow her to be herself, and was able to go on her first dragon expedition to Vystrana.
Imagine if Charlotte Brontë or Elizabeth Gaskell lived in a world where dragons were real and one of them wrote about a young woman of their time obsessed with dragons in an era when the science of studying the creatures was first being contemplated, and you've probably got a pretty good picture of what this book is like.
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Regency Fiction Fans, Adventure Fans, Coming of Age Fans, Scientific Exploration Fans, Fantasy Creature Fans, Adult Fiction Readers
New Dragon City by Mari Manusci
When dragons appeared, the world as we knew it ended. Noah and his family spent the first couple of years in a bunker, but when their supplies ran out they made their way to New York City and joined a group of survivors there. They spend the months when the dragons are hibernating above ground, looking for resources. But when the dragons return, they seal themselves in some subway tunnels to survive. Since Noah's mom disappeared, things haven't been the same. When his dad says he isn't going into the subway this year, Noah decides he won't either. Their chances of survival with the dragons around aren't good. But Noah can't imagine spending months without any family. However, he has no idea what this summer has in store. He'll learn things about himself, his parents, and dragons that will change his world and the world of many others.
I can’t go into much of the plot of the 2nd half of the book without major spoilers. Suffice it to say the story provides some thought-provoking scenarios about what happens if there's no communication between two sides of a conflict, and the possibility for peaceful resolutions (and the challenges involved) when there is. It also delves into the power of hatred vs the power of kindness. (And yes, we get to meet several dragons in the story, some nice and some not so nice.)
Target Readers:
Dystopia Fans, Survival Story Fans, New York City Setting Fans, Peacemaking Story Fans, Thought-Provoking Story Fans, Stand Alone Novel Fans, Middle Grade Readers
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