  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 08/01/2019 Being a 12-year-old girl can be challenging in the best circumstances, but it’s exponentially harder when you possess a pair of invisible wings and are prone, in warm weather, to bursting into flames. Ember is a dragon girl—born a dragon but magicked into a human child by her rescuer-turned-adoptive-father. Though she appears human, a few peculiar dragon traits remain, so fire-prone Ember abandons Victorian London for her aunt’s scientific outpost in Antarctica, where she quickly finds herself in a different type of dragon drama. Fawcett’s feisty female protagonist inhabits a world that is familiar but not completely identical to ours, a place where magic coexists with science, Great Britain actively rules Antarctica, and dragons are hunted to near extinction. The influence of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass (1996)—cited as one of the author’s favorite books—is strong here in the best possible way. Stunning descriptions and well-rounded characters are woven into a story that hums with excitement and adventure, which will leave readers wanting more of Ember and her magical world. - Copyright 2019 Booklist. Loading...
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