How To Train Your Dragon (Book 1) by Cressida Cowell

 

 

(A clickable image that sends you to an amazon page for How To Train Your Dragon: Book 1)

 

 

      How To Train Your Dragon (by Cressida Cowell) is one of the most humorous novels I have ever read.  Taking place roughly around 793, when Viking Clans were very popular, Hiccup was struggling to become the "hero" his father, the chief of Hairy Hooligans, wanted him to be.   The trouble is, Hiccup isn't the hero type.  He isn't particularly strong, or harsh worded.  He isn't his cousin, Snotface Snotlout, who is all the characteristics of a hero.  Snotlout, the boy under thirteen who has: noticeable muscles, skeleton tattoos, and the beginnings of a small mustache, is exactly what the Hairy Hooligan tribes is looking for in a warrior, and he doesn't let anyone forget that he is superior over them. 

 

 

 

 

      Step One to become a Hairy Hooligan: catch a sleeping dragon from the Dragon Nursery.  Easy task, right?  Wrong.  As they are picking their dragons, Fishlegs, another outcast in the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, sneezes multiple times, waking up the sleeping dragons.  When Fishlegs realizes he didn't grab a dragon, Hiccup gives him his, and goes back to grab another.  He is compelled to grab one from an attached cave, grabs it, and goes without looking at it.  As the boys are walking back to their homes, Fishlegs and Hiccup decide to take a look at their new dragons they are to train.  Fishlegs given dragon is a basic brown, okay, but not wonderful.  Snotlout's is a terrifying Monstrous Nightmare, which is, in Hairy Hooligan terms, a very honorable dragon.  Hiccup's?  The most tiniest common dragon anyone has ever witnessed. 

 

 

 

 

 

      Step Two to becoming a Hairy Hooligan: Train your Dragon in time for Initiation Day held on Thor's Day Thursday Celebrations.  According to Professor Yobbish, the most, and only, way to train a dragon is to yell at it.  As usual, with the unlucky Hiccup, that method doesn't seem to work.  With Old Wrinkly's advice, Hiccup devises his own way of training his runt dragon, Toothless, against the teasing of his peers. 

 1) Yell at it

 2) Gratitude [Dragons are NEVER grateful]

 3) Fear [Works but I can't do it]

 4) Greed

 5) Vanity.  Possible.

 6) Revenge?  Worth a try.

 7) Jokes and Riddle talk?  <- only if I'm desperate!

 

      In the end, the combination of 'Revenge' and 'Jokes and Riddle talk' gets Toothless to obey Hiccups commands. 

 

 

 



 

      Step Three to becoming a Hairy Hooligan: pass Initiation.  Everything was seeming to go well until Toothless picked a fight with Fireworm, Snotlout's dragon, causing one of the biggest training dragon fights to be seen in the Hairy Hooligan tribe.  It was also the first time a chief has had to exile all the initiates, including his own son.  Thankfully, a horrible storm gave the boys one more night in their homes.

      The storm awakened a couple of very ancient, very hungry, dragons.  Stoick the Vast, not knowing what to do, gathered both his own tribe, and the visiting tribe, to attempt to order the dragons off the land and back in the ocean.  Unfortunately, just yelling would not get the dangerous beasts off of the land.   It takes the bravery of the exiled initiates, and the clever mind of Hiccup to rid Hairy Hooligan of the dragons. 

      In retrospect, that was how Hiccup and Toothless became the heroes of the story.  In a way, How To Train Your Dragon, could be counted as a modern day epic.  A very humorous epic at that.  Even though it is a children's book (AR for elementary and early middle school age children), adults could read them too, and still enjoy them. 

 

 

 

 

(The above are the How To Train Your Dragon Books in order)

 

 

For the Box Set of "How To Train Your Dragon" (Books 1-11) click this link!

 



 



 

  



                     



 

 

The Mind's Eye by K.C. Finn

     

 

 

 

     This brilliant novel begins in the midst of World War 2, when Kit Cavendish and her younger brother, Leighton, are being sent from their London home to stay in North Wales.  The war hasn't affected Bryn Eira Beach, where her new 'family' resides.  There are difficulties, though, and twists, not including the growing war.  Kit has a debilitating illness, leaving her in a wheel chair, but is also a psychic (a genetic trait she inherited from her mother.)  While in Bryn, Mrs. Price takes her to the local doctor, who then diagnoses Kit with Juvenile Arthritis, and tells her to do agonizing exercises.  She is alone most of the time, giving her time to practice both her muscle exercises, and her abilities.  With such abilities, she is able to meet Henri, a young man from the Netherlands. 

 

 

 

 

       As Kit learns to walk again through the always cranky (This is not an exaggeration; this man acts like he has a pole up his tail end.) Dr. Bickerstaff, she learns more about her abilities.  As it strengthens, she learns how to help with the war, even though she cannot yet walk.  And, soon, she meets Henri in person. 

 

 

      Secrets unfold, love develops, and ties are set throughout this novel. 

      K.C. Finn did a brilliant job with The Mind's Eye, giving me both happy and heart-breaking emotions throughout the entire novel.  Although her first novel in the SYNSK series was absolutely fantastic, the other two (Leighton's Summer, and, A Place Halfway) weren't as great.  Though, they are still worth the read, I wouldn't recommend them in a heart beat.  All in all, the SYNSK series were a truly remarkable, eye opening, series that touched base with real world problems (such as: disabilities, mysteries, and racism.)

 

 

 

     

 

       

 

 

Leighton's Summer: more of a mystery novel, for those who love mysteries.  Leighton spends the summer at his Aunt's boarding house, where he finds himself in the group in town that gets themselves into some deep trouble.  Kids go missing from the orphanage in the area, and Leighton takes it on himself, with the help of Faye (another psychic with more unusual abilities), to find out who has been kidnapping these children.

 

A Place Halfway: more of a love story with complications due to racism and secrets.  Josie is in the institution for psychic children (ran by Kit, Henri, Leighton, Faye, and their parents), and is a big music fan.  She needs more money for her albums, so she gets a job at the new club in town, where she meets Jake.  As Jake and Josie's love unfolds, they face harsh realities and battle the racist remarks and ways around them. 

 

The Mind's Eye

 

Leighton's Summer

 

A Place Halfway