Patricia C. Wrede
Dealing with Dragons and beyond — middle-grade fantasy with wit and a princess who'd rather organize the library than be rescued.
Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles — four novels beginning with Dealing with Dragons — follow Princess Cimorene as she chooses to live with dragons rather than marry a prince, and the books that follow extend her world with the same wit and warmth. Her Frontier Magic trilogy (with Caroline Stevermer she co-wrote the Sorcery and Cecelia epistolary trilogy) extends the range. The prose is sharp and warm, the protagonists are stubbornly themselves, and the wit runs throughout without ever being mean.
For middle-grade and YA readers, with strong adult crossover for readers who grew up with the Enchanted Forest. Content stays squarely age-appropriate: peril yes, no graphic content. The reading experience is the rare pleasure of middle-grade fantasy that's genuinely funny without condescending and warm without saccharine. Pick this shelf when you want middle-grade fantasy with sharp protagonists, smart humor, and a princess who'd rather be useful than rescued.
- Sharp middle-grade wit
- Protagonists with real personality
- Princess who refuses the script
- Warmth without saccharine
