My name is Aventurine, and I’ve been transformed into a puny human by enchanted hot chocolate. I could devour the food mage who did this to me, but I'm left will an obsession for chocolate! As a human, I understand that I must become an apprentice in order to survive. Impossible as it may seem, I've started working for Marian, making chocolate in the Chocolate Heart kitchen! Despite my bliss, a couple of things have happened recently that have me upset and frightened. I overheard battle mages talking about an attack on my dragon family living in the mountains, and I've ruined Marian's chocolate restaurant. Dragons never run away, but I've failed to protect my new hoard. I can't go back back to Marian, even though she's my new family, and my dragon family is preparing to attack.This book is the winner of the 2017 Cybils Book Award in Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, and it was my personal favorite of all the finalists! I was expecting a cute story of dragons and chocolate, but it presented dragons in a unique way. They were intelligent, cultured creatures that feared humans, as humans feared them in return. The author highlighted the highs and lows of humanity, as Aventurine had been raised to believe all humans were liars. The kingdom was full of prejudice toward social classes; the city was divided into three socioeconomic regions. Aventurine's character faced self-doubt and spent the whole book trying to discover herself. Being changed into a human was a creative vehicle to explore her own feelings and human behavior. It was fun reading about a "human" girl with dragon thoughts running through her mind. If someone angered Aventurine, she wanted to eat them or engulf them in flames. I loved the philosophical siblings and how the royal family mirrored her own. Overall, the book was entertaining, thought-provoking, and humorous.
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