Handbook For Dragon Slayers

Like Gail Carson Levine's books, Merrie Haskell's middle grade fantasy adventure Handbook for Dragon Slayers mixes magic, mythical creatures, thrilling action, and a wonderful cast of characters. Political upheaval sends Princess Tilda fleeing from her kingdom in the company of two hopeful dragon slayers. The princess never had any interest in chasing dragons. The pain from her crippled foot was too great, and her dream was to write a book. But the princess finds herself making friends with magical horses, facing the Wild Hunt, and pointing a sword at fire-breathing dragons. While doing things she never imagined, Tilda finds qualities in herself she never knew she possessed. Handbook for Dragon Slayers is a deeply satisfying coming-of-age tale wrapped in a magical adventure story.

A magic adventure full of wild horses and dragons round out a princess's coming-of-age story that is sure to appeal to fans of Gail Carson Levine, Karen Cushman, and Shannon Hale. Tilda has never given much thought to dragons. After all, as Princess of Alder Brook she has many responsibilities and little time for reflection. When she thinks of anything other than her duties--or the pain from her crippled foot--she dreams of being a scribe and writing her own book. But when unforeseen circumstances turn Tilda's life upside down, she finds herself traveling the countryside with two would-be dragon slayers. Freed of a princess's obligations, soon Tilda is befriending magical horses and battling flame-spouting dragons. But just as there is more to fighting dragons than pointing a sword at them, there is more to being Princess of Alder Brook than Tilda had supposed. And before long she is learning more about dragons, and herself, than she had ever expected. Merrie Haskell, author of The Princess Curse, presents a magical tale of danger and duty, perceptions and wishes, and of a brave new heroine on a journey of discovery.

Details on pirate strongholds, from the tropical isles of the Shackles to the Varisian city of Riddleport and beyond, present a wide range of options for freebooters, corsairs, scallywags, and even government-sponsored privateers throughout the Inner Sea region. Pirate-themed archetypes, new spells and magic, feats, piratical character traits, a pirate slang primer, and more await plunder in this player-friendly book!

So begins Sir Wyvern Pugilist's new guide for preparing the young to engage the snarly and slimy monsters presently inhabiting our world. Lest you think, however, that this is a manual for anyone casually contemplating a match with a dragon, read on. Pugilist makes it clear that this is no small task, and he pulls no punches. He alternately yells and cajoles, pleads and flatters—whatever it takes to grow his students into bona fide Dragon Slayers. But be careful: This is only for those who are most serious about facing the malicious monsters head-on! "Would that all Dragon Slayers wrote like this! Wyvern Pugilist, where have you been all our lives?" The Boston Post and Intelligentsia "It was not until I read this guide that I discovered I have used all the wrong methods in fighting dragons." An Anonymous Dragon Slayer in California "There is no doubt that Sir Wyvern Pugilist's detailed guidebook will spring to the top of the bestseller lists in no time. I suggest you buy yours now, before the title sells out and you have to wait in line for more copies. Because wait-in-line you will!" Joanne de Arc, Director Emeritus, French Institute for the Slaying of the Dragons "Congratulations to Paraclete Press for successfully persuading Sir Wyvern to put pen to paper and for giving us this new manual on Dragon Slaying! It is long overdue! We enthusiastically recommend this guidebook for young and old alike, it's just that good." Slayers' Weekly

Merrie Haskell’s middle-grade fantasy novel Princess Curse is an imaginative retelling of the fairy tales The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Beauty and the Beast. In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Sylvania, the prince offers a fabulous reward to anyone who cures the curse that forces the princesses to spend each night dancing to the point of exhaustion. Everyone who tries disappears or falls into an enchanted sleep. Thirteen-year-old Reveka, a smart, courageous herbalist’s apprentice, decides to attempt to break the curse despite the danger. Unravelling the mystery behind the curse leads Reveka to the Underworld, and to save the princesses, Reveka will have to risk her soul. Princess Curse combines magic, suspense, humor, and adventure into a story perfect for fans of Gail Carson Levine.

A forgotten dragon and a magical girl set out to find Vienna’s missing dragons in this YA fantasy novel: “Extraordinary—not to be missed” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Grisha is a dragon in a world that’s forgotten how to see him. Maggie is an unusual child who thinks she’s perfectly ordinary. They’re an unlikely duo—but magic, like friendship, is funny. And it has chosen Grisha and Maggie to solve the darkest mystery in Vienna. Decades ago, when World War II broke out, someone decided that there were too many dragons for all of them to be free. As they investigate, Grisha and Maggie ask the questions everyone’s forgotten to ask: Where have the missing dragons gone? And is there a way to save them? At once richly magical and tragically historical, The Language of Spells is a novel full of adventure about remembering old stories, forging new ones, and the transformative power of friendship.

The twisty-turny journey of a girl searching for her heart’s desire—glimpsed in a magic mirror. Perfect for fans of Rump or Catherine, Called Birdy A foundling girl with a crooked leg and a crutch doesn’t expect life to be easy. Indeed, Maggie’s dearest wish is to simply not feel so alone. So when she spies a man behind bars in a magic mirror said to show one’s truest desire, she feels sure he is the father she’s always longed for—and she sets off on a quest to find him. Along the way, Maggie meets both kindly pilgrims and dastardly highwaymen. She discovers she bears a striking resemblance to the princess Petranilla. Their connection is so remarkable that Petra believes Maggie must be her lost sister who fell from the castle wall and was swept downriver as a baby. What a turn of fate! From reviled foundling to beloved royal! But being the lost princess turns out to be more curse than blessing given the schemes of the current king... And if Maggie’s a princess, then who is the man she spied in the magic mirror? This is a grand middle grade adventure story full of mistaken identities, lost loves, found families, and a tantalizing tinge of magic. "I love this book—an uproarious, thoughtful, touching, absurd, ans altogether splendid adventure." —Karen Cushman, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Midwife's Apprentice and Catherine, Called Birdy

This first book in the Last Dragon Charmer series is packed with adventure and wit, perfect for fans of Soman Chainani's School for Good and Evil series and Chris Colfer's Land of Stories series. All his life, Prince Caden has dreamed of slaying a dragon. But before he has the chance, he is ripped from his home in the Great Winterlands of Razzon and finds himself in Asheville, North Carolina—a land with no magic and no dragons. Or so he thinks. The longer Caden spends in Asheville, the more he comes to realize that there is unexpected and dangerous magic in this strange land. There just may be dragons here too. But what if Caden's destiny isn't to slay a dragon, after all?