By Jessica Day George

I loved Tuesdays at the Castle when I was a little kid. So of course I read almost everything else by Jessica Day George. This series was probably top three by her (even though I’ve only read three lol). I would say it reads similarly to the Castle Glower series, but for a quite older audience. (Yes, my sister read this series in 3rd grade. I was a bit shocked. No, you should not do that.)

Dragon Slippers follows Creel, who, instead of staying away from dragons as one ought to, is sent to the dragon by her family so that she can be saved by a heroic knight. Instead, Creel decides to save herself and set off to the capital city to seek her fortune as a seamstress. But in the process of saving herself, Creel also ends up with a pair of shoes.

As Creel continues on her journey, she soon learns that her shoes aren’t as simple as she thinks they are. The might actually be very special. But she has more important things to focus on, things like dealing with her slightly evil boss and figuring out why Prince Luka keeps showing up around her.

I really liked this book not only because it’s fantasy and has dragons and a strong main character, but also because there’s so much that deals with Creel’s sewing. That was really cool and honestly made me wish that I could make dresses like she could. The plot was interesting and the stakes were high.

It’s also a trilogy! The first and third books are probably the best, but don’t read the third book until you’re a bit older. Please just trust me on that. I was a bit scandalized in eighth grade 😬

Here’s my one content warning. In the first book in the series, and even in the second book, the romance is mild. But in the third book, all the characters are adults, so the romance has progressed quite a lot beyond what shows up in the first book. I would not have anyone read the third book until they’re probably 13-14 because the end is a bit….let’s just say there’s a lot implied.

General Stats:

• Genre: Fantasy
• Book 1 of 3
• Age: 7th grade and above
• My rating: ★★★★☆