Summary [courtesy of Goodreads]: Sophie is a young witch whose mother and grandmother pressure her to attend the Royal Magic Academy–the best magic school in the realm–even though her magic is shaky at best. To train for her entrance exams, Sophie is sent to relatives she’s never met. Cousin Sage and Great-Aunt Lan seem more interested in giving Sophie chores than in teaching her magic. Frustrated, Sophie attempts magic on her own, but the spell goes wrong, and she accidentally entangles her magic with the magic of a young water dragon named Lir. Lir is trapped on land and can’t remember where he came from. Even so, he’s everything Sophie isn’t–beloved by Sophie’s family and skilled at magic. With his help, Sophie might just ace her entrance exams, but that means standing in the way of Lir’s attempts to regain his memories. Sophie knows what she’s doing is wrong, but without Lir’s help, can she prove herself?
I loved Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker’s cottagecore staple Mooncakes from a few years ago, and I’ve been anticipating Xu’s middle grade graphic novel for awhile. It’s just as cute and visually lush as I expected, and the plot and writing even manage to measure up to the art’s incredibly high bar. The book focuses on a young witch named Sophie who’s sent to visit her great-aunt and learn deeper witchcraft in preparation for taking the entrance exam to a prestigious school. Magical sea dragons who control the weather and can take human form play a huge role, and Sophie’s magic becomes bonded with a young dragon’s as he loses his memory. In the end, the book focuses on breaking cycles of family mistreatment (of relatively gentle, nonviolent kinds), trusting others (that staple of any self-respecting MG story), and choosing family tradition over institutionalized training and validation. Basically, if you like Kay O’Neill’s Tea Dragon books, which also deal with nontraditional dragons, memory, and preserving tradition, you’re almost sure to like this standalone.
It wasn’t my FAVORITE book because, as an adult, Sophie’s headstrong actions and sulks were frustrating and hard to relate to, but that’s a GOOD THING. I shouldn’t be able to relate to a 12-year-old character in the way that the book’s target audience will, so it seems like this book hits its mark and is perfect for pre-teens and people of all ages struggling to find their purpose.
SPOILER TERRITORY: Pretty Sea Animals
