ANYA AND THE NIGHTINGALE

In the land that will one day become Russia, a Jewish girl, a dragon, and a fool go on a quest.

Twelve-year-old Anya has friends in her village for the first time. After the terrifying events of Anya and the Dragon (2019), she discovered that the locals actually are happy to be friends with the village’s only Jewish family. And of course, there are her closest friends: Ivan, the professional fool, and Håkon, the last surviving dragon. Ivan and Håkon accompany Anya on a dangerous journey across Kievan Rus’, seeking her father, who was conscripted and sent down to the war near Istanbul. They’ll meet epic heroes, a hideous monster, and even the czar before the journey is over. Can Håkon remain safe in a land where all the other dragons have been killed? The fair-skinned, fair-haired people who are native to the area are pagan or Christian, and it’s mildly dangerous to be openly Jewish. Anya’s family is from Western and Central Asia, yet in this fantasy world, her form of Judaism resembles Ashkenazi Judaism of several hundred years later. Other anachronisms are more charming: the casual acceptance of brown-skinned Ivan’s bisexuality and the deaf character whose manual language resembles American Sign Language. Despite the hand-waving worldbuilding, the characters are delightful and fully fleshed out, with believable hopes and fears.

A welcome Jewish protagonist for a draconic fantasy.