Publishers Weekly Review
Too deeply in debt to engage human farmhands, 15-year-old Sarah Dewhurst's father is forced to hire a dragon to clear their farm's fields for planting. With Cold War tensions running high in an alternate 1957 America, employing a dragon, especially a rare Russian blue, is sure to be an unpopular move, but Sarah, who is biracial (black and white), already experiences daily racism in small-town Frome, Wash. Kazimir, the dragon, soon shows a mysterious interest in Sarah, offering protection from an unknown killer and indicating she may be the prophesied key to averting an apocalypse. In Canada, meanwhile, a teen called Malcolm, trained by a dragon-worshipping cult from childhood as an assassin, makes his way toward Frome on what he considers a "blessed" mission to save dragonkind. The relationship between Ness's (And the Ocean Was Our Sky) inclusive human cast, which encompasses characters of various ethnicities, belief systems, and sexual orientations, and his dragons--feared as immeasurably powerful and philosophical, yet derided as rustic and used as sharecroppers--makes for an interesting Cold War analog. The densely layered, expertly paced plot builds and twists while revealing an alternate universe that cunningly echoes our world and its history. Ages 14--up. (June) |
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up--Amid 1950s Cold War tension in their rural Washington town, high schoolers Sarah and Jason are just trying to survive racial harassment from the local deputy and, of course, the dragons. The conflicts run hot, prophecy is tricky to interpret, and things are not as they appear. Secrets, betrayals, and discoveries pile up as the first section of the story slams into the second half with a shocking plot twist. Weaving between historical fiction and science fiction, Ness tackles the terrifying uncertainty of the Cold War, the pre-Civil Rights racial tension, and the consequences of Japanese internment camps, then seamlessly blends LGBTQIA issues and a host of injustices without ever preaching. Featuring multiple protagonists, this story takes readers to two different universes, explains dragons in scientific terms, and retells the end of the Cold War for at least one of our worlds. Exciting, nonstop action and gloriously varied twists in the narrative will keep readers guessing all the way through to the breathless ending. VERDICT A highly recommended addition to any library from an acclaimed master of his craft.--Kristen Rademacher, Marist High School, Chicago |