The Runaway Dragon

Meg and Laddy have grown up, and their circumstances have changed. Meg is now allowed to study swordplay, magic, and statesmanship (along with etiquette and several other lessons), and Laddy the dragon has grown too big for Janna's kitchen, and has been relegated to the barn, to his dissatisfaction. When Laddy causes a scene by running away, Meg contrives to go after him. Her parents insist on sending at least ten guards, two servants, the boy wizard Lex, and a cook with her. This crowd is not conducive to the adventuring Meg dreams of doing, but she wants to find Laddy, so she agrees to their company.

 Meg finds adventure soon enough, and realizes that it's not always the way it is in stories. First, she gets Lex to transfigure the arblast the Lieutenant has brought along to maybe use on Laddy- she's separated from her friends by guards after it is discovered missing. Then she aids a strange man who makes little marks about all the good deeds she does- not stepping on ants, saving a mouse from a hawk, etc. while they are in an enchanted forest. More adventures ensue (I can't give everything away) before they finally reach where Laddy is hiding, and they meet some familiar characters, including Bain, but something is very wrong there, and it takes all of Meg's ingenuity to figure things out.

Kate Coomb's work has adventure, feeling, and excitement that kept me reading until the end. I squee-ed at the happy parts, shouted "No!" at the deliciously evil parts, and was kept in humor and anticipation with the rest. Good job.

Blue