Escaping Peril Continues the Exciting Dragon Adventures of the Wings of Fire Series

The first five books of Wings of Fire tell how five young dragons brought peace to a war-torn land in which dragon factions were brutally killing each other with grim determination. But Peace is something that has to be worked at, and the saga continues with a second group of books, in which the dragons of the first books found a school for cross-cultural dragon understanding and learning. Young dragons from all the different dragon kingdoms (many of whom are deeply scarred by their experiences in the war, and distrust/fear/loathe each other) have been gathered to be the first students. And one group of young student dragons, who manage to become friends despite the odds against them, has to save everyone all over again–not just from old enemies, but from a being of unimaginable power who’s rising from legend to become real.
Escaping Peril is the third book of the second sub-series. Each book is told from the point of view of a different young dragon, and Peril’s point of view is especially extraordinary. She is a Skywing dragon with a deadly power she can’t control—she sets anything she touches on fire. The old Skywing queen raised her to be a deadly weapon, and from her childhood she was a forced to be a regular combatant in an arena of death for the queen’s pleasure. When she’s told she can have a place at the new school, Peril isn’t the only one who really isn’t at all sure that it’s going to work out. The Skywing queen has been deposed, and there is no one she must fight, but burning and fighting, and loyalty to an evil dragon, is all she knows…

But against all odds, she makes a friend, a young Sea Wing dragon named Turtle, and together the two of them set out to foil the evil ex-Skywing queen, who’s plotting vengeance. Peril not only has to keep from burning Turtle, but has to figure out how to be his friend. One of the most brilliant things about these books is how every dragon has his or her own distinct personality, and that’s especially true for Peril. Despite having been forced to do monstrous things, she is no monster; she’s still a dragon to cheer for with her spunky, even sassy, attitude combined with a moving willingness to change.

The Wings of Fire series is an excellent one to give upper elementary school readers.  Some tolerance for harsh and vivid violence is required, but alongside the horrors of war and its aftermath, strong messages of friendship and forgiveness are presented in a way that will appeal tremendously to the target audience and even older readers. I myself can’t wait for the next one, and once I get it in my own hot little hands I will read it right then and there, and only afterwards will I pass it into the equally hot little hands of my son…
Escaping Peril is on shelves now.