Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit
Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary,
Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and
Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom
(Despite Being Confined to Her Room)
by Ysabeau S. Wilce

    FLORA'S DARE by Ysabeau S. Wilce
    Category:  Fantasy
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  9/1/08
    Publisher:  Harcourt
    Reviewed by:  Cat
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Flora Fydraaca is one busy young lady.

    Between her search for a Gramatica instructor, dealing with the fallout of her best friend Udo's moneymaking
    schemes in the bounty-hunting biz, elder sister Idden's desertion from Califa's military, discovering and thwarting the
    source of a series of deadly earthquakes threatening the city,  a freshly sober and keenly aware father, a burgeoning
    crush on Califa's greatest living magickal adept and old Fydraaca family enemy Lord Axacaya, tentacles accosting
    her in public bathrooms, family secrets, assassination attempts, and inadequate sartorial resources - it's a wonder
    the girl has time to breathe.

    At least this time around, Crackpot Manor's one and only accessible potty is up and running...

    There is so much going on in FLORA'S DARE that it's by no means an overstatement to call the book a fantasy
    fiction lover's treasure trove. Author Ysabeau S. Wilce has done a remarkable job creating and populating Flora's
    world with multiple, complex plots and subplots, and plenty of intriguing information to keep readers coming back
    for more.

    I deeply appreciated the level of sophistication Ms. Wilce has invested in the creation of Flora's world. She easily
    juggles plot threads without causing any confusion to the reader. By building the backstory of Flora's friends,
    family, adversaries, and the heroine herself into the narrative, she has created a series that will sustain itself over a
    number of books, striking the perfect balance between a compelling story and characters that are quirky yet deeply
    flawed.