CM Magazine: Dragon in the Clouds

________________ CM . . . . Volume I Number 14 . . . . September 15, 1995

Dragon in the Clouds
Rosemary Nelson.
Toronto: Napoleon Publishing, 1994.
159pp, paper, $6.95.
ISBN 0-929141-22-9
Grades 4 - 7 / Ages 9 - 12.
Review by Irene Gordon

excerpt:

Then I spied a pitcher of ice water sitting on the picnic table. That would cool Trevor's laughter. I leapt onto the lawn, only to have my high heels sink into the grass and remain there while I tried to take another step. I pitched forward onto the grass, leaving both shoes neatly stuck behind me.

Dragon in the Clouds, a novel for nine- to twelve-year-olds set in the Okanagan Valley, has something for everyone. It has appealing slapstick humour, a dog and horses for animal lovers, adventure for adventure lovers, and problems for those who enjoy "problem" novels about growing up.

Nikki, the twelve-year-old narrator, is initially resentful when her thirteen-year-old, wheelchair-bound cousin comes to spend the summer with her family. But gradually the cousins become friends, and they make some major strides in growing up over the summer while sharing both normal summer fun and some exciting adventures.

Nikki also has a talent for getting into hilariously silly situations, like her first attempt to wear high-heels, described in the excerpt above. And Trevor becomes a hero and gets involved in wheelchair sports.

This is a fast-paced and well-written book. Some might feel that it tries to combine too many elements, or that it is unrealistic that Nikki, Trevor, and their friends should have so much excitement in one summer. But fiction is almost always at least slightly exaggerated, and the combination of themes makes the story and the characters more realistic and well rounded rather than less so.

Highly recommended.

Irene Gordon is a teacher-librarian at Westdale Junior High in Winnipeg.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - September 15, 1995.