Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack (Anya, #1)
Anya and the Dragon is an upbeat fantasy story about friendship, magic, and figuring out how to do the right thing when everyone around you has a different idea of what that is. I like almost all of this book but my one reservation is pretty major because it's a problematic moment which is unchallenged within the story. First, the things this did well. The MC feels like a kid, especially in the way that kids can feel like they're grown up even when they aren't. She's aware of the prejudices affecting her family, but her solutions to try and make things better really fit her age and character. The characters were great, and I loved the balance between explaining all the different creatures and leaving some less-described (but occasionally shown). It helped reinforce how the MC would be familiar with them and wouldn't randomly extemporize about them. The plot was great, the twists hit just the right zone between being appropriately foreshadowed and genuinely surprisi…
