Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede, starts with a princess named Cimorone. Cimorone isn't like other princesses though. She is bored with all the etiquette lessons and proper princess behavior and when her parents are making her marry a prince, she runs away. There she meets the dragon Kuzul and becomes her princess. Living with Kuzul, she uncovers a plot by the wizards to steal the dragons' magic. Cimorone tries to stop the wizards and in the adventure she meets a witch, a jinn, a princess, a death-dealing bird, and a prince made out of stone. Then Cimorone stops the wizards and Kuzul is made King of the dragons.
One theme in Dealing With Dragons is perseverance. Cimorone perseveres in stopping the wizards even when it gets hard and confusing. Kuzul perseveres by working hard to get to be king. The stone prince perseveres by trying to do a great service to a king over and over again. Alianora (the princess that Cimorone meets) perseveres by trying to be brave even in the worst times. Even the wizards try to persevere in stealing the magic from the dragons. Perseverance is a reoccurring theme in dealing with dragons.
The main character in this book is Cimorone. Cimorone is intelligent, a hard worker, stubborn, and a tomboy. The book repeatedly says that Cimorone is not as air-headed as other princesses. She also loves adventure and not being bored with princess lessons and duties. Another character is Kuzul, the dragon. Kuzul likes having Cimorone around because Cimrone organizes, cleans, and makes cherries jubilee for her. Kuzul is a good listener and is full of common sense to. Those are the two main characters in Dealing with Dragons.
I liked the book, Dealing with Dragons, a lot. It had adventure, excitement, and mystery. I am so glad there are more books after this one. I loved everything about it except that if you read it right, the characters sound stuck-up. It is easy to read/follow the story and I would defiantly recommend it to other elementary to middle school kids. I hope you enjoy this book just as much as I did.
Citations-
Wrede, Patricia. Dealing With Dragons. Jane Yolen Books, 1990. Print.
I got my picture at: amethyst-dragon.jpg
