When it comes to magic, she is actually kind of a Mary Sue, but that didn’t annoy me at all. But she finds out that she is indeed a witch and what a witch she is. The protagonist, Agnieszka, is not the prettiest girl in town, nor is she anything special really. And even though he is moody and brooding, he was a complex character I loved reading about. And he doesn’t like to get really close to anything or anyone, he seems to like being by himself. He likes his old ways, his old magical concepts and needs a long time to accept that things might work out good (or even better) when you try to do them another way. He is dark and moody and he does not like change, at all.

Apparently many people seem to think he is an actualy dragon before they read the book, but he is not. If I had known I like it so much, I would have read it as soon as it was in my hands. And I finally gave in and read it in only two days. Since I bought Uprooted a year ago, one of my friends was telling me to read it. My opinion: *Warning: contains slight spoilers* For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose. She knows – everyone knows – that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life. I would suggest reading it first yourself before giving it to a young reader.Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. I hope none of it is gratuitous, but that can make it hit harder. But it was written for adults, and there is violence and death and sex in the book. (I do think in general books are safer than video in this way, because the reader has to continuously cooperate with the experience - if a reader hits something that disturbs them, they can skip ahead or quit reading.)Īnyway, I will go out on a limb and say, Uprooted is more appropriate for a ten year old than Clan of the Cave Bear. I was climbing on the piano when I was ten to sneak down my mom’s copy of Clan of the Cave Bear, but I was also the kind of reader who happily sailed right past anything that my brain wasn’t ready to process: I thought it was all about cool Stone Age survival skills and Ayla being the most awesome with her Cave Lion totem whoo!

Naomi answers: I find it really hard to answer this question, because it depends entirely on the child in question.

Goodreads uprooted