I know you don’t read books about dragons. That’s what I used to say, too. Until I read this one. I love that Rachel Hartman has created a world in which dragons and humans live side by side and it’s not all rainbows and unicorns and cupcakes. But it’s also not a world in which you are likely to see a large scaly thing crunching down the cobbled road, breathing fire at passers by. These dragons--intelligent, logical, and scientific--have taken human shape, and now live like the citizens of Goredd. Mostly. Seraphina, our awesome but worrisome protagonist, works at court as a musician (an unusually talented one, I wonder where that talent comes from). She is drawn into an investigation of a hate crime, which of course happens days before the kingdom-wide anniversary celebration of the human-dragon truce. Working alongside a member of the royal family—the Prince Lucian--doesn’t make it easier. Just a few things I love about this book: this is her first novel (yay, more), the writing and story are superb (seriously), it transcends age categorization (11 to 111), and Uncle Orma reminds me of Spock (more than a little). A total no-brainer even if you already like dragons, fantasy, and are a fan of Kristin Cashore or Allison Goodman. - Robyn