Dragon’s Milk by Susan Fletcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Dragon’s Milk is the first book in The Dragon Chronicles. Kaeldra’s search for dragon’s milk to save her sister leads her to an endangered dragon kyn.
So, I got this book from a Scholastic book fair at my job last year. Not because I had nothing to read, but because I can’t say no to book sales.
Do not let the description of the book fool you. This book is not about Dragon’s milk. There is a setup plot about dragon’s milk, but the real story is about way more than that.
So, the protagonist of the story, Kaeldra, is an outsider living with people who are not really her family but have taken her in. She wakes up one night, feeling as if something were wrong. She had her clothes on and was getting ready to scoot before the noise and the destruction woke everyone else up.
That’s how we, the reader, get introduced to the back story. Obviously, there’s something not quite right about Kaeldra. She doesn’t look like anyone else in town. She’s taller and has the greenest eyes imaginable.
Her adoptive sister gets really ill one day and Grandmyr tells her the only thing that will save the life of the little girl is dragon’s milk. So Kaeldra goes off to find dragons.
After only a few days of travel, she finds the cave where the dragon’s are and makes a deal with the mama dragon to come back and watch the babies.
A few months into this arrangement, the mama dies and Kaeldra is left with the task of finding a way to bring the dragons safely to their kyn.
This is where the meat of the story is. We follow Kaeldra around as she goes farther and farther away from the only home she knows and learns about what kind of person she truly is. She also learns about her mother and the story behind her family and her green eyes.
As the story progresses, we meet people who seem to be friends who turn out not to be and enemies who end up being friends. And the ending has a surprise that is just heart breaking.
The pace of the story is a little slow with little action throughout and very quick resolutions. Although, Fletcher does and excellent job with the way she shows Kaeldra’s growth into a brave, strong woman.
Safe Reading!
sayTaïna 
I can’t say no to sales either. I made the mistake of reading my new purchase in the B&N Cafe and saw the clearance basket, making not one, not two, but three separate book purchases before I could escape, several dollars poorer.
I like this review. usually not a YA reader, but Farsighted by Emlyn Chand has made progress in converting me. Not in the mood for anything heart breaking, but I might consider it later.
-Eliabeth