The Book Depository Chill of the Ice Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon by Tracey West
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Price: £5.99
Brand: The Book Depository
Description: Chill of the Ice Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters #9) : Paperback : Scholastic US : 9781338169867 : 1338169866 : 30 Jan 2018 : After the desertion of Rori and her fire dragon Vulcan, a Dragon Master from the far north arrives with word that King Lars needs a fire dragon to defeat the Ice Giant who has frozen his kingdom. The Dragon Masters set out to find Rori and convince her to help. Illustrations.
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9781338169867
MPN: 1338169866
GTIN: 9781338169867
Author: Bee Ratcliffe
Rating: 5
Review: We needed a good "first chapter" series with lots of pictures as for bedtime routine as picture books just became rather expensive. So I searched the internet and came across the recommendation for Scholastic's Dragon Masters book series. They LOVE all the characters/dragons in the books and love guessing what each person can do and what powers the dragons have. Whenever possible we use the Kindle edition and broadcast it to our TV via our Amazon Firebox (via wireless projection) so that everyone can see the text and the pictures. Unfortunately not all the books are available for Amazon Kindle, so some books we had to buy as hard paper and we are running out of space in our bookshelves as we have sooo many books, so we prefer electronic copies. Electronic copies also allow us to share it onto their Amazon Fire tablets for kids. Again, LOVED by all of our kids and we have different ages and grasp of the world. Unfortuantely we have read ALL the books available and now have to wait until March 2021 until the next book comes out.
Author: Latin Teacher
Rating: 2
Review: Overall this series is great, especially for reluctant readers. However, these next two books left me pretty disappointed. My sense of justice took a hit from the lack of consequences that Rori experiences from her consistent poor behavior. I know it's "just a story" but I deeply appreciated when the author can promote virtue in their characters and in the storyline (think A Little Princess or Carry On Mr. Bowditch). Leaving children with the idea that poor choices don't effect others or our relationships with others is not an idea worth promoting either consciously or unconsciously. Although I was left incredibly disappointed with the outcome, it is still a great book to read if you will be discussing it with your students / child. It creates a great opportunity to explore topics such as the consequences of our behavior, how real friends act, how to respectfully disagree, and choosing a side on a complicated moral issue. In book 8, the conflict itself is intense - Basically, Rori turns traitor and there is a moral debate over whether or not the dragons should be set free. The author does a phenomenal job of building up the conflict and it's a jolly good one. At the end of book 8, Rori has become argumentative with Griffith, has willfully disobeyed Griffith, eavesdropped, helped the villain escape, stolen a dragon stone and dragon, and run away. She has become a disrespectful insubordinate full-of-herself character with a victim mentality. However, the most admonishment Rori ever receives is, "you must learn to think before you act". I kept looking for Griffith to address Rori's shortcomings, (disobedience, disrespectful arguing, temple tantrums, eavesdropping) but they were not. The story leaves us in a cliffhanger in that Rori has run away with the villain. Ok, I think, the consequences will happen in the next book after they find Rori, Eko and the stolen dragon, Neru. NOPE! As book #9 begins, Rori has reluctantly agreed to help fight the Ice Giant with her dragon master friends but she appears to do so only because she is aggravated over Eko telling her what to do. She has no intention of returning to the castle permanently and makes this abundantly clear. In Rori's first contact with Griffith after she ran away (with the stolen goods and having released the prisoner, Eko) Griffith tells Rori he knows he has been harder on Rori than the other dragon masters but only because she has the potential for greatness and he really hopes she will decide to stay. Drake actually apologizes to her saying "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings before you left". Rori shows no remorse whatsoever for her previous actions. REALLY???? The wronged are apologizing and acquiescing to the perpetrator ??? Also, there is no build-up in the previous book or books in that Rori has been held to a higher standing than the others, so this falls flat too. At the conclusion of book #9, King Roland shouts angrily that he will remove Griffith as head wizard because he did not banish Eko and now Eko and the thunder dragon are both missing. Griffith takes full responsibility for this and does not mention Rori's involvement in the affair at all - which is why both Eko and Neru are at large. At this point, Rori stands up to speak. The book says, "Drake knew what she was going to do. She was going to tell the truth and take the blame to save Griffith". Uuuummm, really? why? She hasn't been remorseful for 2 whole books now, there has been no hint of an attitude change or a moment of realization that her actions were disobedient and put others in danger. She still intends to go back to Eko at this point. The phrase "take the blame" also implies that she wasn't wholly responsible for the outcome or her actions. NOPE - not liking the wording here. "admit fault" or "take responsibility" or "confess" would have been nice. Then, before she has the opportunity to say "IT WAS ALL MY FAULT" she is miraculously saved by an incoming message that makes King Roland reinstate Griffith. All the dragon masters are thrilled that Griffith is still their dragon master and now they appeal to Rori to stay. Rori agrees with these words, "Well since you said please....I didn't like that island anyway, Too hot. And too many yucky fish". STILL NO APOLOGY?, It would have been somewhat satisfying to see a comment like, "Gee, sorry guys. Sorry I almost got Griffith fired, sorry I ran away, sorry I let Eko and Neru go, sorry I stole the dragon stone, sorry I was a jerk and thought you all hated me when you really didn't" etc. But the straw that broke the camels back occurred when Rori frowns and says, "But I need to tell Eko. It wouldn't be fair if I just never returned". Wait, what??? Rori's conscious is not offended by the debaucheries of deceit, thievery or betrayal but it is pricked by a social faux pas committed against THE VILLIAN? The book concludes with the kids playing tag. As a reader, I am left feeling that good did not triumph over evil - Eko is free with the dragon Neru, which she has shown she will use for evil purposes. There is no plan to recapture Eko so that she does not continue to use her powers to wreck havoc. There are no consequences for Rori's abysmal behavior. Rori is fully reinstated both positionally and relationally. The ending left this reader feeling that the conflicts were still unresolved and that Rori walked away unpunished, unrepentant, and as full of herself as when the tale began. At this point in the series, this reader cannot feel the least bit of sympathy for Rori or even "like" this character. In fact, I have a strong dislike for her. When I read this book with my students, I am going to give them the assignment of writing the last chapter entitled, "Rori's Consequences". It will be interesting to see what the children think regarding Rori's betrayal and how that should be addressed. Additional notes: In book #10, Rori's first words are snarky. She degrades the powers of a rainbow dragon in comparison to her fire dragon. This does not help the reader get over their dislike for Rori in he previous books. Perhaps the author is going somewhere with this....I haven't read past this point in the series to find out.
