****A rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of
women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of
a woman's place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others
for who they really are. - The first adult novel by the Newbery
award-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: BUZZFEED, GOODREADS, BOOKRIOT
Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its
most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of
thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and
talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the
skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why
did Alex's beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex
doesn't know. It's taboo to speak of.
Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of
this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee
father; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and
watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the
forbidden.
In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author
Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced
limitations. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to
keep women small--their lives and their prospects--and examines what
happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve.
