Dealing with Dragons
by Patricia C. Wrede
The (a) story follows Princess Cimorene, who does everything she is not supposed to do. She would rather learn fencing and magic than table manners and the proper frequency to scream at when she’s being carried off by ogres. And she would certainly rather do anything than marry Prince Therandil, the witless heir to a neighboring kingdom, and be forever trapped in this life of rules and limitations. And so, taking the advice of a talking frog, Cimorene runs away from her kingdom and falls under the service of a powerful dragon named Kazul.
Life as a dragon’s princess is, thankfully, anything but boring, and Cimorene soon encounters a myriad of talking, magical beasts; a witch; some snooty fellow princesses-in-servitude; and an order of suspicious and sneaky wizards.
It seems that, whether in a palace or a dragon’s cave, a princess’s work is never done!
The (A) story is about expectations, and the dangers they can pose when they are held over someone’s head all their life. It also highlights the ridiculousness of such expectations, no matter whose shoulders they fall upon.
The story is also, in that same vein, about having the courage (or maybe just the pure stubbornness) to follow your passions, in spite of whatever those strange, ridiculous people might expect of you.
This is a fun story, if a bit on the younger side of the books I typically read. And while I couldn’t have told you many of the details from the first time I read it, I could have told you it was highly entertaining all the same. Even coming back to it as an adult, I find it clever and humorous, and the perfect read for “improper” young persons maybe around elementary to middle school ages.
But whether they were meant for a younger audience or not, I am looking forward to checking out the sequels in the future.
