Dragonfly Song

October 1, 2017

Gr 5-8-Aissa is the firstborn daughter of the Lady, the village priestess, but the extra thumb on each of her hands makes her unworthy in the eyes of the gods. She is supposed to be left to die, but the Lady's wise woman quietly sneaks Aissa to a family of goatherds across the mountain. When that family is also tragically lost to her, Aissa finds herself back in the Lady's house, working as a servant and choosing to be mute. Abused, rejected, and knowing nothing of her true parentage, Aissa is eventually cast out of the city by the other servants. Each year, soldiers from Crete come for one boy and one girl tribute to dance with the bulls. If they survive, their community is freed from providing future tributes, but no one has ever come back. Aissa has nothing to lose and decides to dance with the bulls. The Bronze Age setting makes for a unique backdrop, and Aissa is a sympathetic character. Her struggles are heartrending, and made more so by the lyrical storytelling style. The descriptions of the dances are especially vivid. VERDICT Hand-sell this unusual tale to fans of Shannon Hale's historical fantasies.-Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 15, 2017
Orr (Nim's Island, 2001, etc.) delivers a fantasy that follows an ill-fated girl's journey from abandoned to accepted. When Aissa is born with tiny, pink thumbs wiggling from her wrists, the Lady, her mother, is furious. Why have the gods forsaken her, the Lady wonders. Unable to bear the imperfection of her child, she demands that the wise-woman Kelya take the child and toss it off a cliff. Kelya cannot do it, however, and instead places the babe with a family that has just lost a newborn. Thus begins the arduous journey of a child forced to survive by her wits, who seems doomed to suffer loss after loss. Orphaned a second time and now a nameless servant in the palace, now-12-year-old Aissa sees opportunity in being chosen a bull dancer, one of the yearly sacrifices to the Bull King--but without a name, she cannot be chosen. Orr tells her tale in both narrative poetry and prose for an effect that is both fanciful and urgent, drawing a rich fantasy landscape filled with people and creatures worthy of knowing. An introductory note describes Orr's inspiration in the legend of the Minotaur, but her story is no retelling but a meditation on rejection and acceptance, on determination and self-determination. The shifts between poetry and prose build tension just as surely as the bull dances do. As mesmerizing as a mermaid's kiss, the story dances with emotion, fire, and promise. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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May 5, 2016
Born into privilege that is swiftly taken from her, Aissa learns early how painful life can be. In servitude at the age of four, never speaking and frequently mistreated, she accepts this is her lot in life, yet somehow still finds ways to learn, grow and explore. Aissa’s position in her society changes several times until, at 12, she is taken to become a bull dancer, a sacrifice in all but name. But the path has never been straight for Aissa, and her world continues to change and expand, right into the final pages. A beautifully written historical fantasy set in an ancient era, Dragonfly Song is a somewhat dark exploration of a child’s life in a harsh time. While in many ways this is a mature story, Wendy Orr deftly controls the content and narrative voice to engage the younger reader. Reminiscent in style of Glenda Millard’s ‘Kingdom of Silk’ books, albeit in a form that is perhaps a little overlong for the audience, Dragonfly Song straddles the gap between children’s and young-adult fiction and will reward the extending reader with its lyrical elements—an intriguing combination of prose and free verse—alongside strong characterisation and a skilfully unfolded story. Tehani Wessely is a teacher-librarian, publisher and literary awards judge