Elodie (said like Melody but without the M) is moving across the sea to begin her apprenticeship. She has no money so the plan is to apprentice for 10 years in the city of Two Castles. It's kinda strange as a capitol city. One castle belongs to the king, the other to an ogre. Every wise person tells her to avoid the ogre at all costs, but these situations seem to find her. Two Castles also has it's very own dragon. Dragons are also to be avoided because they are hot tempered and moody. But when the dragon is the only one offering her the help she so desperately needs? Is it possible that "everybody" can be wrong about something so important?
Audience
The story is just as simple as Ella Enchanted, so I'd say it's safe for any second grader up to real chapter books. This is very much girl oriented with a medieval fairy tale setting.
What I Love About This Book
1)At first I was trying to figure out if each character was the "good guy" or the "bad guy." This is a mystery and it does have an antagonist, but each and every character has good qualities and bad. Who can you trust? Decide for yourself, because all the characters are pursuing their own ends.
2) I spent a lot of time trying to find the romance plot, but there is none. I love this because I think there needs to be more books on friendship-we all need it and that is a relationship with just as much value in our lives as romance.
3) One of the themes in this book is changing your dreams. What if you get what you want, and find you don't like it? What if you get what you don't want and find that you love it? I think young people need to hear that it's okay not to have all your own answers.Cautions
1) There is no romance plot. I though this was Beauty and the Beast retold, but it's not
2) The idea of gender is explored a little-and what behaviors are indicative of what gender
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