Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

What would it be like to be shunned for a physical quality beyond your control? For answering this question, Merrie Haskell’s junior fiction novel Handbook for Dragon Slayers won a Schneider Family Book award, which is given for excellence in portraying the disability experience.

          Thirteen-year-old Mathilda is determined to be a good princess to her people of Alder Brook. The trouble is that they don’t seem to want her to be their princess. Considered cursed for her crippled foot, Tilda tries to hide her hurt at the townsfolk’s hostility by immersing herself in her work as copier of important documents. When a rouge cousin steals Alder Brook’s sovereignty, she is relieved, gladly going on the run with Parz and Judith, two friends and would-be dragon slayers. But Tilda’s freedom proves to be more perilous than she expected. When dragons attack, supernatural forces threaten vengeance, an evil lord pursues a criminal plan, and Alder Brook is endangered, Tilda must decide whether her liberty or her duty, her hurt feelings or her peoples’ fates, are most important.

          Handbook for Dragon Slayers considers an impressive number of serious topics from a fresh and original perspective, neither straying from its classification as junior fantasy fiction nor turning into fluff. Haskell offers an empathetic look into facing life with a disability, and uses the suspicion that Tilda faces as well as her friends’ loyalty to suggest the importance of acceptance. However, Tilda is never portrayed as perfect; in fact, one of the novel’s greatest charms is the stress placed on the obligations of rulers. The plot traces Tilda’s journey in terms of her realization that the opinions of others are not nearly as important as doing what she knows to be right. This message is backed up by the good example of several acquaintances, including her kindly confessor Father Ripertus, who offers a refreshing change from the current prevailing fictional depiction of the medieval church as hopelessly corrupt. The story’s impressive range, however, does contribute to a kind of confusion about the climax: all the different villains, difficulties, and storylines seem to be about equal in terms of direness, making it difficult for the reader to see events building up to any particularly significant moment. Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read that steers clear of deadly stereotypes in its message of acceptance.