Petra K and the Blackhearts

Gr 5–8—Petra K lives in Pava, a fantastical city similar to Prague. It is a city full of strange and fascinating creatures, including miniaturized dragons, called dragonka, which are bought and sold at a high prices as pets. But times are quickly changing under the rule of evil child dictator, Archibald the Precious. Under his leadership, magic—and therefore the existence of dragonka—is outlawed. Petra happens upon a dragonka, which sends her on a journey into the underworld of Pava, where the miniature dragons are pitted against one another in forbidden tournaments, and child gangs roam the streets. When Petra finds herself drawn into one such gang, the Blackhearts, she also finds herself at the center of a revolution to overthrow Archibald and return the dragonka to their rightful, treasured place in society. While the story has a strong start, it quickly meanders into uneven world-building, with many fantastical elements not fully developed or simply abandoned. Petra seems more of a spectator than a real participant in her story and her first-person narration seems too mature and detached. The story bears many similarities to Marie Rutkoski's The Cabinet of Wonders(Farrar, 2008), which also features a girl named Petra living in an alternate Prague run by an evil ruler.—Necia Blundy, formerly at Marlborough Public Library, MA