When you first meet Amy, she’s escaping from her chores with her best friend, preparing for her 10th birthday, fiddling around with toads, and making statues speak to unsuspecting church-goers. Such rambunctious behavior might, in our idea of medieval town, require quite the scolding, but for Amy and her parents in Goredd, it’s a typical day. Not too far from ours, right? Rachel Hartman’s charming tale of Amy’s tenth year is full of everything you could wish for: best friends, loyal family, a dragon masquerading as a human to study the national myth. On top of that, we get everyday adventures like a first crush to the more unusual fare of a last-minute rescue (I certainly said, “Whew!” a few times!). There are also some wonderfully poignant moments that many of us would rather not feel, but make the story ring true, including separating from friends and realizing the world isn’t quite as equal as we would like it to be. It’s a crime that we all can’t run out and read all of Amy’s adventures — these and earlier stories were originally published as a mini-comic with the author’s xerox machine. How happy for us, though, that she was able to publish this great first adventure — I can only beg for more!
Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming
ISBN: 0971790000
By Rachel Hartman
Pug House Press 2002
