Prairie Fire

by E. K. Johnston

Overview

Listen! For the song of Owen Thorskard has a second verse.

Every dragon slayer owes the Oil Watch a period of service, and young Owen was no exception. What made him different was that he did not enlist alone. His two closest friends stood with him shoulder to shoulder. Steeled by success and hope, the three were confident in their plan. And though Siobhan McQuaid was the first bard in a generation, she managed to forge a role for herself and herald Owen as a new kind of dragon slayer for a new kind of future.

But the arc of history is long and hardened by dragon fire. Try as they might, Owen and his friends could not twist it to their will. Not all the way. Not all together.

Listen! I am Siobhan McQuaid. I know the cost of even a small bend in the course of history. Listen!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467776813
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/01/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

The cool things about Emily Kate Johnston are that she is a forensic archaeologist, she has lived on four continents, she decorates cupcakes in her spare time, she adores the Oxford comma, and she loves to make up stories.

The less cool things about Kate are that she's from a small town in southwestern Ontario, she spends a lot of time crying over books in random coffee shops, and she can't play as many musical instruments as she wishes she could. The Story of Owen is Kate's first novel. Visit her online at ekjohnston.ca.

Editorial Reviews

Taking place a few short weeks after the dramatic conclusion to The Story Of Owen (Lerner, 2014/Voya June 2014), this story is mostly Siobhan’s. Adjusting to her scarred, painful limbs, Siobhan remains Owen’s bard. She has to accept the fact that she needs help with some basic things, such as tying her shoes and opening her bugle case. She feels she is letting Owen down but cannot just sit around and do nothing. Both serve on the Oil Watch in Canada, where they are part of dragon-slaying teams. Their story changes when they are stationed in different areas. This is where Siobhan finds her own place in the world where dragons, government, and teamwork are part of everyday life. Siobhan is a flawed but strong and likable heroine who finds her way in the world. Her story is one of finding strength in spite of multiple challenges. While some may enjoy the moments throughout the story that go back and explain historical events, others may get frustrated with the constant interruption in the story’s action. One strength of this story is the great use of sensory detail—even when one is being put into an alternative reality, the sensory details of dragons’ wings flying over help make these scenes more believable. This story is a must for those who loved the first book and want to continue with the story. Reviewer: Dianna Geers; Ages 12 to 18.

VOYA, August 2015 (Vol. 38, No. 3) - Dianna Geers

03/01/2015
Gr 8 Up—There is a little something for everyone in this sequel to the acclaimed The Story of Owen (Carolrhoda Lab, 2014). Fantasy fans will love returning to an alternate world in which the armed forces slay dragons. History fans will get a kick out of the way Johnston intermixes actual U.S. and Canadian history with a dragon-friendly story line. Eco-aware fans are unlikely to miss the underlying sentiment that oil brings nothing but trouble in both titles. This time around Owen, Sadie, and Siobhan have enlisted in the Oil Watch (think the U.S. Army, but with more fire drills). While Sadie and Owen excel with ease, troubadour Siobhan struggles to prove her worth. When the three are stationed in separate locations, Siobhan must learn to find her role without the reassurance of her two best friends. VERDICT A fantasy YA novel that steers clear of love triangles, teen angst, and a tidy ending is hard to come by; Prairie Fire and its prequel are must-haves.—Jennifer Furuyama, Pendleton Public Library, OR

School Library Journal

★ 2014-12-22
This follow-up to the acclaimed The Story of Owen (2014) is part adventure, part alternative history, part friendship story, part ecological fable and all heroic saga.Once dragon slayer Owen Thorskard graduates high school, he signs up for his mandatory service in the Oil Watch, and of course Siobhan McQuaid, his bard and best friend, enlists as well. Their previous exploits (chronicled in Siobhan's songs, now a YouTube sensation) have made the pair unpopular with those in power, so they receive the dreariest, most remote deployment: Fort Calgary. Grueling practice gradually coheres their raw support team into a tough fighting unit—and trusted friends. But are they prepared for the test of the biggest, deadliest dragon of all? This sequel is not as perfectly crafted as Johnston's debut: The plethora of new characters is hard to keep straight, the minutiae of military training drag on the pace, and promising subplots peter out without resolution. Still, the narrative is held together by Siobhan's unique voice, which casts every character as an instrument, every event as a melody; all she witnesses is knit together in a symphony expressing universal themes of friendship, duty, loyalty and sacrifice. For all Siobhan's insistence that she merely channels Owen's story, it becomes evident that tales are as much about their tellers and that heroism comes in all forms. Grand, heartbreaking, ennobling and unforgettable. (Fantasy. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews