The Dragon Dance

December 1, 2016
In her second term at Tall Towers Princess Academy, Princess Grace bucks the rules and tackles adventures. Eschewing the cloying princess/feminine stereotypes that marred the first book, Kuenzler here gives Princess Grace--still clumsy and still tormented by her mean-girl blonde cousin Princess Precious--a mind of her own. When Grace befriends Hetty, the motherless niece of the school's gamekeeper, and gives her riding lessons on Billy, Grace's unicorn, she knows she is breaking the only-princesses-are-allowed-to-ride-unicorns rule, but she doesn't care. Instead, she questions the rules themselves. Riding one day, the two girls discover an abandoned baby dragon. Although they know that princesses are a dragon's favorite food, they smuggle milk (Grace matter-of-factly milks a cow to get the milk) to the dragon and it thrives. Threading through this adventure is the looming spring ballet dance, which Grace is dreading, since she is not, to put it mildly, graceful. While her best friends from Book 1, Izumi and Scarlet, practice their dances, Grace, thinking she needs to keep the dragon a secret from them, eludes them. Misunderstandings that illuminate touching and familiar adolescent insecurities ensue. The dramatic conclusion of this engaging and tightly plotted story celebrates community and friendship. Scott's spot illustrations add a lighthearted tone but show minimal racial diversity; save for Asian-coded Izumi, the significant characters are mostly white. Feisty, compassionate, and independently minded--Princess DisGrace comes into her own. (Fantasy. 7-10)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 3-5-Princess Grace is back in her second adventure at the Tall Towers Princess Academy, where she continues to be as nontraditional as a princess can be. In this series installment, Grace challenges her friendships with the more traditional princesses while making new friends with a servant and a baby dragon. The large text size and frequent illustrations will appeal to reluctant readers, and Grace's high jinks will attract fans of both comedy and light fantasy. Although the story is rather predictable, young readers will appreciate the lightheartedness while rooting for Grace and her new friends. Fans of Shannon Hale's "Princess in Black" books who are looking for a slightly more challenging title will also enjoy this longer princess comedy. VERDICT A funny, highly illustrated story that will appeal to reluctant readers and is likely to find an audience where illustrated novels are popular.-Ellen Norton, Naperville Public Library, IL

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