Sleeping Spells and Dragon Scales ~ Review

Sleeping Spells and Dragon Scales

By Wendy S. Swore

With a title like this one imagines a fantasy story with maybe some laughs. But this book is more an idea of fantasy instead. There is a serious aspect to it that is actually the main story.  Liam and Alaina are really good friends, but when Liam starts having sleeping spells and seeing things that aren't there Alaina is the only friend who believes him. 

She knows what it's like to have strange symptoms and feel like your body is just weird. Alaina has type 1 diabetes and has been living with it for several years. And she has a theory about how to help Liam.

Alaina believes the two of them have upset the fairies, accidentally. But she believes they have to try breaking Liam's curse before it is too late. And they'll use her research and knowledge of fairies and fairy tales to do this.

Sleeping Spells and Dragon Scales is a contemporary set chapter book that uses Magical Realism perfectly as Lian and Alaina work together to try to understand and figure out what is wrong with him. Because something must be wrong even if the doctors say he is fine.

This book is perfect in explaining the troubling aspects of having an unknown and chronic condition. We are introduced to the struggle to explain what is difficult to explain and even harder the cruel comments and accusations of lying. How do you convince others that something is wrong when the experts say you're fine? And how long do you keep going on before you give up?

I think this is a book that all middle-grade readers should read. It is an eye-opening read about diabetes, narcolepsy, and cataplexy. I know the words sound scary and the reality of living with these conditions daily is just as scary. I think this book excellently presented this allowing the reader to experience the unknown - the feelings, the pain, and even fear. 

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Book:

Can two friends solve the mystery of Liam's "curse" by using their knowledge of fairy tales?

Something is wrong with Liam. He collapses during soccer practice, he can’t stay awake in class, and he’s starting to see a ghostly white fox that disappears into smoke. His parents and teachers accuse him of being lazy and staying up too late, but he knows it’s something worse.

No one believes him except for Alaina, a friend and self-proclaimed expert in fantasy and fairy tales. She’s seen this sort of thing before and believes Liam has been cursed with a powerful sleeping spell. Her journal is full of possible ways to break a curse. Liam is skeptical, but with his normal life slipping further away, he agrees to try her potential cures.  

As they search for answers in stories, Alaina shares that she also is dealing with something no one else can see: type 1 diabetes. It rears its head like an invisible dragon, and she carries her medical equipment as a knight’s lance and dragon-scale shield to battle it. 

As Liam’s mystery illness worsens, he will need Alaina’s friendship—and perhaps a bit of fairy magic—to find a way to understand the truth of what is happening and regain the pieces of himself that are lost.