Dragon Slayer's Academy 2: Revenge of the Dragon Lady by Kate McMullen


I admit it's not fair to compare every children's book set in a boarding school to Harry Potter, but that's the world we're living in. Thus here is Dragon Slayer's Academy, a chapter-book series set just where the title says it is. Wiglaf is the worst student at the school, which is a cross bewteen Grendel-era Nordic village life and Camelot-era England (which may not have been that far apart, historically speaking.) The parallels to Hogwarts are evident but not glaring. Wiglaf has two best friends: the Ron-Weasely-ish Angus and the Hermione Graingerish Erica (a girl pretending to be a boy, as girls are not enrolled at the Academy.) 

The difference is where Harry Potter swings wildly between whimsy and the maudlin, DSA is seriously silly. This is the second book of the series and picks up after the events of book 1, wherin Wiglaf killed the dragon Gorzil by telling it stupid jokes. Every dragon has a secret weakness, you see. And when Gorzil's mother, Seetha (the Beast of the East!) vows revenge on Wiglaf, it's a race against time to find her weakness or she will destroy him. 

Despite the cringey nature of this story, despite the low ambitions, something about this story clicks. The earnest silliness, the absolute commitment to the bit, means kids probably loved these books, back when kids had time to like silly books instead of spending all their time with scrolling TikTok or whatever else they do instead of reading in the corner. 

Verdict: Mostly this book makes me feel bad that I can't make kids love reading. It's stupid and fun and completely forgettable, and no one in my libary will every find it or love it. I'm keeping it anyway.

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