"Combine puberty and shifting into a dragon for a wonderfully funny read!"
Jennifer Scales is turning fourteen and is just starting
high school, experiencing all the normal trials and
tribulations of a girl her age. Deciding she wants to win
this championship soccer match as her birthday present to
herself, she does an amazing kick, one which has all her
teammates staring at her as if she just sprouted a second
head. When Jennifer tries to talk about this with her
mother, her mother naturally does her normal non-
confrontational thing and suggests they discuss the matter
with her father. So when Jennifer's father finally gets
home from another of his five day business trips, it
finally comes out that Jennifer takes after her father's
side of the family and is a weredragon. The reason her
parents haven't told her is because the shifting normally
doesn't happen until the sixteenth birthday and they
thought they would have a couple more years to prepare
Jennifer. Not surprisingly, this totally freaks Jennifer
out and she sneaks out of her window and goes to the mall,
runs into some friends and on the way home, is overtaken by
the feeling of her body shifting. Her mom shows up and takes her to Grandpa's farm with her
dad flying next to the minivan the whole way. Now Jennifer
has to learn how to do everything all over again, from
walking to drawing and eating. She even manages to learn
how to fly and fish, kill and cook her own sheep (drowning
it in ketchup). Then she has to get used to her human body
again after she changes back. After another fight with her parents, they decide to take
her to her grandfather's farm and let him teach her for a
while. Now, Jennifer begins to learn that life as a
weredragon isn't all fun and flying. The weredragons have
enemies: the werarachnids and the beaststalkers. She also
remembers when the town she was born in was burned to the
ground. And it seems trouble is on the horizon for the
weredragons once again. Will Jennifer be able to accept life as a weredragon? What
has been going on with Jennifer's friend, Eddie? He's been
avoiding her ever since his family came back from England.
And then there's the new kid in school, Skip. Why is he all
of a sudden becoming Jennifer's best friend? Why is
Jennifer different from all the rest of the dragons and has
features of all three different types? And don't forget the
threats the weredragons are receiving now. JENNIFER SCALES AND THE ANCIENT FURNACE sure makes me wish
there were young adult books around like this when I was
that age. MARYJANICE DAVIDSON and ANTHONY ALONGI have done
a wonderful job of combining the elements of fantasy and
young adulthood. It was truly easy to put myself in
Jennifer's shoes as she experienced all the normal angst of
a teenage girl. The feelings of not being understood by her
parents, of being different, and not fitting in are
something we can all relate to. And the dragon was a total
bonus for me. I really love the glimpse we caught into the
world of weredragon, not to mention the spiders and slayers
as well. Even though this is a young adult story,
MaryJanice Davidson's hand in its creation is evident by
the humor throughout. This is a thoroughly engaging and
captivating story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, even
though my young adult years are long gone. I highly
recommend JENNIFER SCALES AND THE ANCIENT FURNACE to
readers of all ages!
Reviewed by Chere Gruver
Posted November 19, 2006
|
