Starting out with light reads by Tui T. Sutherland and her “Wings of Fire” series.
Although this series has a low reading level, it tackles some pretty complex issues that are reflective of issues in the real world.
“Wings of Fire” takes place in the fantastical land of Pyrrhia where the leading species is dragons.
These dragons are divided into seven tribes: IceWings, SeaWings, MudWings, NightWings, RainWings, SkyWings, and SandWings.
Each of these tribes lives in their preferred environment, have abilities unique to their species, and don’t usually mix well with each other.
Each tribe is run by a Queen who passes the throne to one of her daughters;
which daughter is decided by a challenge where the daughter fights her mother to the death for the throne.
But when the Queen of the SandWings is killed by an outside force instead of one of her three daughters, chaos erupts in the realm of sand.
The sisters start a war and end up forcing all the other tribes into taking sides.
At the beginning of the bloodshed, a prophecy is introduced, telling of how five dragonets from separate tribes will end the fighting and choose the new queen of the SandWings.
The first installment follows the five young “dragonets of destiny” as they navigate a world damaged by a war they are somehow supposed to stop.
This series has been one of my favorites since I was a kid, and my respect for the author has only grown as I’ve reread these books.
Each tribe is beautifully constructed with their own customs and skills that are different from each other.
Sutherland’s brilliant descriptions of each tribe, and how dragons vary within the tribe, really help paint a picture of what each dragon looks like.
The characters go through real development as they face inner conflict brought on by the need for peace, family loyalty, and tribe loyalty.
It really is a coming-of-age story about young characters facing prejudice, generational trauma, PTSD, the need to belong, and just the general search for identity.
I guarantee that you will see yourself in at least one, if not all of the characters in this series.
The format of a fantasy about dragons makes these issues palatable and easily understandable for young minds while still conveying the severity of some of the situations.
Not to mention the plot is so well thought out through the entirety of the series.
The big plot twist was a little predictable but was still incredibly devastating (in a good way).
As for the other installments that Sutherland wrote, I am familiar with the second and third series/spin offs from her.
I am happy to say that the quality of those series are just as good as the first installment.
If I had to say one thing, it would be that the plots are a little repetitive from the first series, which is why the first will always be my favorite.
Because it’s confusing, here are the list of books in what order you should read them for the first installment:
- The Dragonet Prophecy
- The Lost Heir
- The Hidden Kingdom
- The Dark Secret
- The Brightest Night
If I ever find the time to, I may check these out. I love the kind of books that focus on environmental base societies as most authors always seem to try out something different with the concepts.
I think it’s really important to slowly introduce the world’s problem to kids; doesnt have to be explicit,, like Wings of Fire, is definit but unique waysely a smart way to do it. These sound so interesting. I love that the queen passes power down to daughters as well.
I love hearing about how a children’s book can tackle such dark subjects in a way for kids to digest. As well as how in introduces many different cultures and ways of life much like us people. I love fantasy and dragons so I’m a big fan of this one.