A Sky Full of Dragons

Gr 3-7–Dr. Seuss meets Harry Potter in McDaniel’s latest book—a romp through a world that is both wild and weird, bubbling over with unexpected insights and charming details. Spella De-broom Cauldroneyes, an orphaned eight-year-old, lives with her aunt in the Hungry Snout Forest. She’s happy there, but she feels out of place. She isn’t a thread witch like her aunt, and her blue freckles set her apart even among magical folk. Everything gets worse when Aunt Cauldroneyes disappears, and Spella must search for answers at Dragon’s Knob, the school for wand keepers like herself. Across Spella’s journey, she encounters a thousand small delights—grumbling desks, miniature dragons, teachers with birds in their hats and marsh water in their shoes. She and her friends grapple with everything, from disability to the after-effects of climate change, but their lessons are always gentle and never didactic. Spella’s coterie of friends, from flying hats to mummified cats, provides an endearing support system for her as she navigates the highs and lows of leaving home for the first time.