Sleeping Spells and Dragon Scales -- Wendy S. Swore - Hardcover

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.


Author: Wendy S. Swore
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: 04/02/2024
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781639932313
Audience: Ages 9-12

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2024
School Library Journal 04/01/2024 pg. 130

About the Author
Wendy S. Swore and her family are farmers. She writes part-time, particularly in winter when her farming chores give her time to plant seeds in her imagination. Wendy is the Foreword INDIES Juvenile Fiction Gold winner for her middle grade novel A Monster Like Me.