Deciding palace life and arranged marriages aren't for her, Princess Cimorene escapes to live a life of adventure with the dragons. Now if she can only convince passing princes that she doesn't need rescuing....

Excellent, easy read! An absolute breath of fresh air in the fantasy trope.

This fast-paced romp spins traditional fantasy mores on their head. Wrede's imaginative and engaging style of writing is sure to capture the delight of readers. Cimorene is a reluctant princess, a young woman who earns for adventure and friends who use common sense. So, instead of succumbing to the expecations of royalty, Cimorene runs away to find adventure... by offering her services as a princess to the dragon Kazul. Kazul, although suprised by Cimorene's request to work for her, quickly finds that having a reliable princess to do her cooking, cleaning, and other chores is extremely helpful. As an unexpected friendship develops, Cimorene must also handful would-be suitors (including a knight who needs help breaking a curse), scheming wizards, and more in this adventurous and amusing fantasy.

It's always nice to revisit a favorite story and find that it is just as good as you remember it. Princess Cimorene is one of my favorite heroines for her no-nonsense pragmatic streak, at odds against the world she inhabits, where princesses are supposed to be vapid arm candy or trophies rescued from dragons. In this deliciously droll fairy tale, she instead runs off to go live with a dragon, where her pragmatism and intelligence are actually valued. Such a fun read, and a delight to read aloud.

In Dealing with Dragons, Patricia C. Wrede weaves a wonderful tail of action and adventure along with finding and being true to yourself. Readers young and old will enjoy this playful trip through a world full of fairy godmothers, dragons, wizards and witches that reflects on some of silliness of fairytales altogether. Read along as Cimorene discovers that you can decide your own future in a world that is constantly telling her, “It’s simply not done. With classes on how loudly it’s permissible to scream when being carried off by a giant to references of characters from other famous fairytales (King Author, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc), Wrede weaves a fantastically fun not your everyday fairytale that will leave you wanting more. Thankfully there is. Dealing with Dragons stands well enough on its own but it’s also the first book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

All of which are available at the Indianapolis Public Library!

#indyplkids

Imagine having a dragon for a friend: powerful and perhaps capricious, but with your best interests at heart. I have a favourite dragon friend book for every age. For younger readers (maybe 8 and up) I recommend Patricia Wrede’s Dealing with Dragons series, about a Princess who decides she’d rather live with the dragons than the princes. As a teenager, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsinger was my very favourite book. Once I read it through twice on the same day. Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight is one of the best dragon friend books for adults, and there are plenty of other books set in her world, Pern, to keep you busy for a while. (Submitted by Rebecca).

This fantasy novel is the first in a series of offbeat, engaging, and banter-filled books about spunky Cimorene who would rather live with a dragon than settle for the life of a proper princess. Fast-paced and funny, this book may delight readers of all ages.

I loved it so much! The book was so funny! A thing that bugged me though, is how the start was a little slow. Otherwise, it was such a good book.

This series is still an all-time favorite of mine. They were the first books I ever read that combined humor and fantasy to such great effect, and the brave, no-nonsense heroine is someone I still aspire to be like. I highly recommend it for middle schoolers!

My favorite book ever.
I really recommend it.