Slayers

Slayers by C.J. Hill follows Tori, a girl who has always been obsessed with dragons.  She begins the story as her sister drops her off at Dragon camp sure she won't last a week.  Things in camp are strange.  She's met personally by the director and then taken off to a cabin miles from the rest of the camp.  Tori soon learns that she's a Dragon slayer, complete with special powers that are activated with a special dragon simulator they have at the camp.  Tori and the other slayers must train to fight to prevent Overdrake, the dragon lord from using his dragons to take over.

I almost didn't read this one because honestly the cover and title made me think it was going to be a total fantasy book that I wouldn't enjoy.  I was surprised as this book turned out to be a nice mix of contemporary with the fantasy and plenty of action and even a bit of romance.  I loved the camp setting and the games the campers would play to work on their training and the final battles at the end were epic.  The mythology was original and well crafted making for a believable world.

Appropriateness:  This is a great action packed book that will engage reluctant readers and it's a perfect middle school book, focused on fantasy and action.  There is a bit of romance (and a budding love triangle) but not enough that it would turn off a reader that disliked romance.  I would recommend this book to readers 11-15