When women were dragons

In the first young adult novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ogress and The Orphans, Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for one most crucial event: the Dragon Massacre of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and claws; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the skies. Was this their choice? What will happen to those left behind? Why was Alex's beloved aunt, Marla, transformed, and her mother not? Alex doesn't know. It's taboo to talk about.

Yet Alex, forced into silence, must confront the consequences of this astonishing event: a more protective mother than ever; an absent father; and the disturbing insistence that her aunt never existed. In this timeless and contemporary contemplative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores anger, memory, and the tyranny of enforced restrictions. When Women Were Dragons reveals a world that seeks to keep women small—their lives and their prospects—and explores what happens when they rise up collectively and take the space they deserve.