Book Review: Dragon's Keep, by Janet Lee Carey

     Evaine turned to face the wizard. "Have you read my destiny in the stars?"
     "Not your destiny, Evaine, but one that will come long after."
     "What shall her name be?"
     Merlin shook his head. "Names are not written in the stars, but destinies. The signs all point to the twenty-first queen of Wilde Island." He stepped to the window and peered into the night. "Three things the stars say of this queen. She shall redeem the name Pendragon. End war with the wave of her hand. And restore the glory of Wilde Island."
     He tilted his head. "And yet I see darkly in the stars...a beast."

Summary:
Princess Rosalind longs to be free of her golden gloves, to feel the breeze blow through the fingers of her bare hands. But she cannot. Her mother, Queen Gweneth, forbids it until such time as a cure can be found. For the gloves conceal a terrible secret - one known only to the two of them. If any other in their dragon-plagued kingdom were to discover her flaw, how could Rosalind become Wilde Island's twenty-first queen, and fulfill the wizard Merlin's 600-year-old prophesy?

When the dragon wrenches Rosalind from her home and wings her away to Dragon's Keep, the destiny she has known of all her life - yet never fully understood - unfolds in ways she never saw coming.

For Teachers and Librarians:
Dragon's Keep has a king's ransom of ways it can be used in your classroom. How about as a launching pad for a unit on early Medieval England? You can develop lessons on the battle for the throne between Empress Matilda and King Stephen, typical castle life/peasant life of the time, modes of travel, and how medical care was administered and by whom, for starters. You can even do a fun mini-lesson on superstitions held during early medieval times.

Or how about a language arts unit? Do a few lessons centered around medieval England myth and legend: Merlin, King Arthur and his court, dragons, and prophesy. Delve into the book's story structure and genre: discuss and itentify items such as plot twists, mystery elements, adventure elements, and fantasy elements, and how they work.

You could even touch on some science, working the book into a unit on endangered species. How? Dragons are nearly gone from the world in Dragon's Keep. Use this fantasy endangered animal to connect kids to our own endangered animals, and what makes them that way: loss of habitat, misunderstandings of the animal by humans, changing environments that threaten its existence, etc. 

You could also get a really interesting discussion going about accidental advocacy for an animal. Rosalind comes to Dragon's Keep with a firm set of beliefs about dragons - most of them not pretty. But soon, her forced situation shows her a very different picture of dragons, and it changes her perception, as well as her actions. Perhaps your students could do some research, presenting what they discover about people in the real world who've become unlikely champions of a much-maligned or negatively-perceived animal.

But most importantly, Dragon's Keep is a great story, and one your students will have a hard time putting down.

For Parents, Grandparents and Caregivers:
Dragon's Keep explores the bonds of family, and the different dynamics that come into play. Some parents will do almost anything for the success and future happiness of their children. But if they're not careful, what starts out as well-intentioned acts can quickly devolve into ones not nearly so noble. Or right. Rosalind's bond with her mother is strong, and at first she believes her mother capable of no wrong. But as the story progresses, Rosalind begins to see that that is not quite so, even as she realizes the Queen does what she does in large part for love of her daughter. 

Families sometimes have complicated bonds, and navigating those relationships can often be confusing. This book does a balanced job of showing many facets of family relationships, both good and not so good, and how one young girl finds a way to navigate them while not losing her own sense of right and wrong. And equally as important, she learns a lot of things about herself in the process.
  
For the Kids:
Dragon's Keep. I know. The book totally had you at "Dragon," didn't it? And when you go out and find this book, and read it, you will pat yourself on the back for your excellent judgement. It not only has dragons, but also kings, and queens, and a princess, and mystery, and adventure, and secrets, and an age-old prophesy, and magic. Here's the deal: Rosalind is a princess with a secret - one her mother believes would cause the kingdom to turn its back on her and her family if anyone were to find out about it. So her mother forces her to hide her flaw with a pair of golden gloves until a cure is found.

But while those golden gloves protect her terrible secret from being discovered, they can't protect her from being snatched by the bloodthirsty dragon that terrorizes the kingdom. He whisks her away to his home, Dragon's Keep. And soon, Rosalind comes to learn that most of what she thought she knew, wasn't quite what it seemed to be.

For Everyone Else:
Who doesn't love a good story - especially one with connections to the legendary King Arthur? But Dragon's Keep is not just another King Arthur story. It picks up 600 years after Arthur's time, with one of his sister's descendents: a princess with a lofty destiny, but who hides a terrible secret. At least she thinks it is. But when she's snatched away by a dragon, her life takes turns she never thought it would. And then she starts to see her secret, and Merlin's prophesy - and herself - in a whole different way.
 
Wrapping Up:
Dragons, a secret, and an age-old prophesy. Mystery, magic, and adventure. Dragon's Keep is full of twists and turns and excitement. It's a book not to be missed.

Title: Dragon's Keep
Author: Janet Lee Carey
Cover Illustration: Patrick Scullin (dragon) and Cliff Nielsen (hand)
Cover Design: Kelly Eismann
Pages: 320
Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Publisher and Date: Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt, Inc.
Edition: First Magic Carpet Books edition, 2008
Language: English
Published In: United States
Price: $7.95
ISBN-10: 015206401X
ISBN-13: 978-0-15-206401-3

Author Spotlight: Janet Lee Carey

Janet Lee Carey's desire to become a writer grew from a love of books she had acquired from the time she was small:

"I always loved reading. After school, I'd rush home and settle myself in the high branches of a tree to read all about Narnia or Middle-earth. Every book was a secret door and I wanted in."

She began writing poetry in eighth grade. That and her journal writing ultimately led her to write novels beginning in her late 20's. Though she currently writes fantasy fiction for children and adults, she leaves herself open to the stories that reveal themselves to her - fantasy, or otherwise.

Ms Carey often fields questions about writing via letters, during presentations, or in emails, and she answers many of these on the FAQ page of her official website. On the subject of where to get story ideas, she offers several thoughts, including this one:

"I think most of the stories wait down inside a person, like a secret storyteller. Things that happen in the outside world awaken the storyteller, and suddenly she begins to speak. So it's not so much a matter of making the stories up, as learning how to sit very still, and listen."

In her career, Janet Lee Carey has taught at Lake Washington Technical College, and leads professional writing seminars and workshops for both children and adults. She has written eight novels for kids and teens - each of which is linked to a charitable organization, "empowering readers," she says, "to make a difference in the world." 

She has won various awards for her novels, including: the Mark Twain Award in 2005 for Wenny Has Wings (published in 2002), an ALA Best Books for Young Adults award for Dragon's Keep (published in 2007), and a Teens Read Too Gold Star Award for Excellence for The Dragon of Noor (published in 2012).

Born in New York on January 11, 1954, and raised in Mill Valley, California, Ms Carey now lives near Seattle, Washington. She is married, with 3 sons. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, swimming, canoeing, reading, yoga, spending time with family, and taking long walks. 

Sources:
Janet Lee Carey official site - About the Author
Janet Lee Carey - Wikipedia
Seattle Author: An Imagination Gone Wild - Seattle Wrote
Author Interview: Janet Lee Carey - The Magic Attic
Author Interview: Janet Lee Carey on Dragon's Keep - Cynsations
Author Janet Lee Carey - Watch. Connect. Read. 

A Toe, a Truck, and a Bike, Or: There's Probably a Message in Here Somewhere

I'm training myself to run - without walking in between - for a full three miles. But I wasn't doing well enough on my own. So a while back, I got an app for my phone that said it would help me do this. Once it downloaded, I laced up my hot-pink-and-black sneaks, plugged in my headphones, started my tunes, fired up the app, and out the door I went.

I ran when it said ran. I walked when it said walk. After a couple of weeks, the walks were shorter, the runs were longer, and things were going well. Then one day, about half-way through the session, it told me to run...

...right as I got to the base of a short-but-steep hill.

Of course.

But run it said, so run I did.

The next morning, Her Highness, My Big Toe rather painfully let me know she had taken entirely too much abuse from that hill. After watching me limp around for a week, my husband C put his own (uninjured) foot down. So I went to see the doctor. X-rays were taken, a referral was made, and then, the verdict was in: I have Turf Toe. 

AKA: Her Highness, My Injured Big Toe. 

Which means: No Running For Me. 

For a while, anyway. 

But now, after three weeks of not being able to do much, the doctor raised my toe's rank to Her Highness, My Injured-But-Healing Big Toe, and said I can try biking - if I take it easy.

So I tried that today. 

And it was anything but.

See, I thought I would try the local park trail, which is less hilly than my neighborhood. But I'd need to drive to get to it. Which meant getting my bike into my truck. Shouldn't be a problem, right? So I unlatched the front half of the truck bed cover, lowered the lift gate, held up the bed extender cage with one arm, lifted up my ancient-and-therefore-heavy mountain bike with the other, and shoved-scooted-squeezed it underneath the cage and into truck bed. All that was left was to lower the cage back down, and then shut the cover. Except that the bike stretched out underneath the cage. So it wouldn't lower. Which meant the cover wouldn't shut.

Fine, I figured. I'll just take out the cage. But to remove the cage, it has to be all the way down. Which meant I would have to take the bike back out. Well. After all it took for me to get that thing in there, taking it back out was just plain NGH (Not Gonna Happen). 

So, several finagles later, I found a way to get the bike wedged in so I could lower the cage. Success!

Until the cover wouldn't close, because the handlebars stuck up too far.

Of course.

By this time, I was sure my struggles had made an entertaining spectacle for the neighbors, and I was tempted to just shut my garage door and call it a day. But, I had put too much effort into it to quit now. So, I left the cover as it was, grabbed some bungee cords and strapped it down as best I could, fired up the truck, and away I went to the park trail.

I was pleased to discover that getting the bike out of the truck was a decidedly easier process. Once the bike was out, I unhooked the bungee cords, flipped the extender cage in, slammed the tailgate shut, and then swung the truck bed cover over to drop it closed.

Only, it didn't close.

Of course.

See, one of the latches flipped closed before it was supposed to. So one side was latched properly, and one wasn't latched at all, which meant the whole cover was stuck halfway closed and halfway not. And no matter how much I pulled and pried and jimmied, it would not for the life of it come unstuck. Which meant I had no way to get my bike back home. And I hadn't even gotten to ride it yet.

By now, I was blaming Her Highness, My Injured-But-Healing Big Toe for all the trouble she was causing. I wouldn't even be in this mess if she hadn't up and decided to go on strike.

So I did the only thing I could do: I turned my back on that flippin' truck cover, and I strapped on my bike helmet, and I got me my bike ride. Darn it.

But, like Her Highness, My Injured-But-Healing Big Toe, I couldn't ignore that stuck truck cover for long. So when my ride was done, I tried again - and failed again - to fix the cover. 

Since the bike Would Not Even Remotely Fit in the cab of the truck (despite much seat-folding and bike wrestling and even a not-well-thought-out attempt to remove one bike wheel), I had to open the back end of the truck cover and lift the ancient-and-therefore-heavy mountain bike up over my head and drop said bike down in the back end of the truck bed. 

It didn't fit there, either. 

Of course. 

The best I could do was to have most of the bike in the back part of the truck bed, with one bike tire hanging over the side. By then I was so tired of trying to fix things, I just left it that way and drove home. And if the bike fell out on the way, well, I wasn't sure I cared.

But it didn't fall out, so I guess I'll keep it a while longer.

And that stuck truck cover? Well, I did a little web search, and found a message board with a suggested fix. It said: Sit on the cover. Then turn the key and the latch will release. I laughed out loud. But then I tried it.

And it worked!

Which I hope Her Highness, My Injured-But-Healing Big Toe will be doing very soon.

Prepare Yourselves, Because April 24th is Pigs in a Blanket Day! And That Can Only Mean One Thing...

...storytime may be a bit more exciting than usual this evening...

Johnny Appleseed Day Will Be Here Soon...Or Not So Soon

Rejoice, apple aficionados, for Johnny Appleseed Day approacheth soon...or maybe not for a while yet. See, some list this holiday's date as September 26th, on account of that's the birthdate, circa 1774, of one John Chapman, AKA Johnny Appleseed.

But, there are others who insist that Johnny Appleseed Day is instead celebrated on March 11th, on account of that's the date of his exit from this world. However, since his death date was never formally recorded, there is some dispute as to its accuracy, as some place his death date at March 18. Sources do agree, though, on his death year: 1845.

I say we celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day here at Bugs and Bunnies on March 11, for two reasons. One: it gives me something to write about this week. And two: the apples Johnny is said to have planted in his travels all those years ago were of the tart green variety (known as Rambo, for the inquisitive among us).

So, green apples; along with March being the month where Spring comes into its own, and all the plant shoots are coming up a lovely young green; along with March being the month of St. Patrick's Day, which is known for lots and lots of green with its shamrocks and wee folk and connection with Ireland and all...well, isn't the March date kind of a no-brainer?

It is for me, so let's begin:

Most folks know the general story of Johnny Appleseed, so how about we talk about some of the lesser-known stuff? (If you are not all that familiar with Mr. John Chapman, who literally became a legend in his own time, then clicking on any of the sources listed at the end of this article will catch you up nicely.)

Here are some interesting Johnny Appleseed tidbits I came across in my research:

• From the time he set out on his apple-tree-planting journey, John Chapman, who was by 1806 known as "Johnny Appleseed," remained a wanderer the rest of his life. 
• Johnny first got his apple seeds from cider mills as he passed through eastern Pennsylvania. The mills gave away the seeds for free, as they were considered leftovers from the apple crushing process. 
• Johnny was a vegetarian, favored sleeping outdoors, and avoided towns and settlements. He wore a sackcloth or coffee sack, with cut-out holes for head, arms, and legs. He never wore shoes. Some accounts say he used a tin pot for a hat, but others say he carried the usual woodsman's tools of the time: rifle, tomahawk, knife, and the like. He had dark hair that came to his shoulders, and bright blue eyes, and a wiry frame.
• In addition to apple trees, he planted medicinal plants, and traded them with the Native Americans he met in his travels.
• Despite Johnny's unorthodox-for-a-settler ways - he was described in most accounts of the time as "eccentric" - he was welcomed into homes wherever he went, and people were pleased to see him.
•  He planted over 100,000 square miles of apple nurseries, some of which are well-documented and still exist. 

And here are some interesting tidbits about the apples themselves, or rather, their image at one time and subsequent rebranding. According to The Straight Dope:

• In the 1700's and 1800's, most apples were grown in order to make hard cider. The process of making the cider resulted in a drink roughly half the strength of wine, but it could be made stronger with a few tweaks.
• Then in the early 1900's came the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Prohibition movement, and the growing influence of each caused apple growers to fear a dip in sales. So, they changed promotional tactics.
• Using the late 1800's adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" as their new ad slogan, apple growers successfully changed public perception of the apple from alcoholic drink ingredient to healthy and wholesome food choice.

* * *

 

Whether you celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day on March 11th, or whether you wait until September 26th, make sure you go easy on the cider, or you may end up like the little guy below (though he seems not to realize he's only partaking of the non-alcoholic version):

 


Sources:
Websites:
Johnny Appleseed Day - Gone-Ta-Pott.com (site no longer available - but it was a fun resource while it was up!)
Johnny Appleseed - Apple Appetite.com (site no longer available - but it was a fun resource while it was up!)
Johnny Appleseed - Cleveland.about.com (site no longer available - but it was a fun resource while it was up!)
What's the Story with Johnny Appleseed - The Straight Dope.com

Children's Book:
The Real Johnny Appleseed, by Laurie Lawlor; wood engravings by Mary Thompson. Published by Albert Whitman and Company, 1995. Ages 9 and up.
ISBN: 0-8075-6909-7 

Who Shall I Be Day is February 17th

Every once in a while, Handsome Boy and Lovely Girl ask me some variation of "Who Shall I Be?" as they make their way in this world. 

They wonder: Who will I be when I grow up? 
They wonder: Who am I now? 
They wonder: Should I try to be like everyone else? 
They wonder: If I am different, is there something wrong with me? 

Each time they ask, they speak in different ways. 
Each time they ask, they use different words.
Each time they ask, they are feeling many different emotions. 

Yet no matter how they choose to ask it, the core question remains: 

Who shall I be? 

And when they come to me, the very first words that come to my heart are the words of someone else. They are simple, those words. But they are powerful. And they have stuck with me from the very first time I read them, many years ago. 

So when my kiddos come to me and ask some variation of:

Who shall I be? 

I always start with:

Be who you are...

First Foray into Digidrawing

I'm teaching myself how to use the digital drawing tablet Santa left under my tree this year. Two days and a fair amount of hair-pulling-out later, along with a maddening program crash that cost me three-fourths of a near-finished design and forced a do-over, here's what I have to show for it (besides a new-found, life-saving, and near-constant habit of hitting command+s):