Okay, let's start with a confession -- I picked this up from the library sale shelf because 1) I'm always looking for YA books to see what kids are reading so I can write what they want to read. and 2) the author's name is pretty close to mine!
That being said, I'm going to have to find the previous book to this one, because there is so much about the world of the story I need to know. The farmer girl Elodie left her island home, met a dragon and an ogre, and became assistant to one and friends with the other and the three apparently set off on adventures together. Not only that, but the dragon is a sleuth of some kind, and is apparently training Elodie in that skill.
The whole social structure of this world, with brunkas and bees and a replica of an island that keeps the volcanoes from erupting -- and endangers everyone when it goes missing -- feels like a real world, and that's a pretty nifty trick that a lot of writers out there need to learn.
Elodie and her dragon masteress and the ogre count come home to Elodie's island home and immediately run into trouble -- first in a killer snowstorm, and then with the people who give them shelter. The High Brunka who leads this community is keeper of the Replica of the island, and it has been stolen. Fortunately, the snowstorm keeps all the suspects within the massive building. When the three are separated on various errands to try to warn the inhabitants to evacuate, it might just fall on Elodie to untangle the clues and find the Replica before they're all doomed.
Fascinating world and characters. I should add that the author also produced ELLA ENCHANTED -- y'know, the book that is the basis of the Anne Hathaway movie? Yeah, that Ella. Major fun.
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