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A review by briarrose1021
Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
5.0
11-year-old Anya lives a simple life in her tiny village, and she thinks all is well until the local magistrate threatens her family's land unless her family can pay 250 rubles in one month. When Anya meets a family of Fools who is looking for a dangerous dragon, she offers to help in exchange for payment. But when Anya meets the dragon and discovers that the danger may be greatly exaggerated, Anya has to decide whether to save her family or the dragon.
I loved this story. In some ways, it reminded me of Fiddler on the Roof, only with magic and dragons. Both are set in Russia, and the families in both suffer discrimination based solely on their status as Jews. Unlike in Fiddler, though, Anya is not in search of a husband - though we do meet several young boys who would be more than happy to marry her, some declaring it before even properly meeting Anya. Anya declines. No, Anya is a strong and brave young girl who is a wonderful protagonist for the story. She studies the Torah in preparation for her upcoming bat mitvah and struggles with understanding various passages of the Torah. In particular, she keeps coming back to the commandment of "You shall not kill" and wondering if it's ever okay to do so.
Helping her in these discussions is her grandmother, her babushka. Babulya is quite the character, and I think I would love to meet her in real life. Well, maybe not. Her magic and her ability to know things are kind of scary. Lol.
I also loved the way magic was used in this book. It was a somewhat unique concept that I've only seen in a couple of other books I've read. I definitely liked the way the magic was combined with all of the different magical creatures that were also pulled from Russian folktales.
I think this book is a fabulous story and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more stories with Anya and Ivan. I also think this book could be a great introduction for discussions of history and discrimination with young readers. The former teacher in me can't help but see the possibilities of cooperative lessons between History or Social Studies teachers and English teachers, especially with the mythologies involved.
So, if you like strong female characters, magic, dragons, swords, mythical creatures, and mischievous house spirits who don't mind letting you know when they're upset, then you should definitely read this book.
I loved this story. In some ways, it reminded me of Fiddler on the Roof, only with magic and dragons. Both are set in Russia, and the families in both suffer discrimination based solely on their status as Jews. Unlike in Fiddler, though, Anya is not in search of a husband - though we do meet several young boys who would be more than happy to marry her, some declaring it before even properly meeting Anya. Anya declines. No, Anya is a strong and brave young girl who is a wonderful protagonist for the story. She studies the Torah in preparation for her upcoming bat mitvah and struggles with understanding various passages of the Torah. In particular, she keeps coming back to the commandment of "You shall not kill" and wondering if it's ever okay to do so.
Helping her in these discussions is her grandmother, her babushka. Babulya is quite the character, and I think I would love to meet her in real life. Well, maybe not. Her magic and her ability to know things are kind of scary. Lol.
I also loved the way magic was used in this book. It was a somewhat unique concept that I've only seen in a couple of other books I've read. I definitely liked the way the magic was combined with all of the different magical creatures that were also pulled from Russian folktales.
I think this book is a fabulous story and I'm definitely looking forward to reading more stories with Anya and Ivan. I also think this book could be a great introduction for discussions of history and discrimination with young readers. The former teacher in me can't help but see the possibilities of cooperative lessons between History or Social Studies teachers and English teachers, especially with the mythologies involved.
So, if you like strong female characters, magic, dragons, swords, mythical creatures, and mischievous house spirits who don't mind letting you know when they're upset, then you should definitely read this book.