I really, really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to a sequel, if the author does one. Mira the main character is a quiet but strong girl who speaks up when she needs too. It doesn't mean that she is weak. It's a great story about the affects of the weather and what we do to the environment. The world building of Mira's county and her dragon weather egg and bonding after it hatches was neat. Such a good book. Very quick read.

Mina has grown up in a family of storm guardians, and expects to hatch a beast and nurture skills to help out on the farm. When it turns out that her hatchling is a lightning beast, quiet Mina's life takes an unexpected turn. Lightning guardians train at a special school, and are expected to take bold risks. Mina's ability to listen and observe, however, allows her to learn troubling truths about her beloved country.

I loved this novel about quiet strengths and hidden leadership. I didn't realize it, but I'd been waiting a long time for a shy heroine. Yay! Also, there's just something about Durst's novels (this is the second I've read) that exudes joy and optimism. I'm usually drawn to dark literature, but this is a welcome breath of fresh air.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

A decent little story--a bit didactic, a bit too politically charged for the target audience, and a bit too familiar a plot to be wonderful, but it wasn't bad.

A young girl is selected to be a storm guardian, and becomes linked to a storm beast. Her beast is a lightning beast, which surprises her family since she's so quiet. But she goes to her special school to learn to be a storm guardian, and along with her beast and her new friends, she discovers the world isn't so perfect and decides she has to do something.

There's lots of "even the quiet ones can make a differences" and "we can change the world," which is all true, but felt like it was over-stated and harped on. Overall, a little heavy-handed, but many young readers likely won't mind.

A very shy girl named Mina is hatching a storm beast egg and bonding with it. The society uses these beasts (basically dragons with special abilities) and their guardians to control all aspects of weather and provide other comforts in Alloria. Mina, who is so shy people think she doesn't talk, begins to build confidence in her storm beast academy and she discovers that her country's manipulation of nature is wreaking havoc beyond its borders. Will she be strong enough and clever enough to be shy and a leader? Spark tackles issues relating to climate change that are in our headlines today.

Her family thinks Mina is quiet, steady, and reliable, and she is. But on the inside, Mina has a big voice and wants to do great things for the people of Alloria. When she hatches a lightning storm beast, a dragon-like creature with the ability to store and manipulate the power of lightning, she has her chance to show everyone that there is so much more to her than what they expect. However, when she arrives at school to learn how to work with her young hatchling, Pixit, she also learns that her country’s use of storm beasts to make Alloria a paradise comes at a steep cost to neighbors on the other side of the mountains. Mina must decide how to use her voice to make friends, learn to work with Pixit, and try to make a difference in the world. Middle grade readers grades 4-6 will enjoy this dragon fantasy book with a clear message that it takes all types of people to right wrongs and lead others. Parents and librarians will be pleased to give a book without any profanity or sexual content to their kids. I do not know if a sequel is in the works, but author Sarah Durst left the door open to that possibility and I am hopeful that she will give of more of Mina and her friends.

Sarah Beth Durst writes great young female heroes. I liked the characters and the urgency of the story, and I felt Durst built up her writing style a lot in this book. I think I'd recommend to teens who like action and adventure stories.

Spark is a darling story that's filled with adventure but shouldn't be too scary for younger middle grader readers.

It's filled with beautiful descriptions and has one of the most fully developed worlds I've read.

"The wind beasts were silver dragons with white feathery wings and brilliant, sparkling antlers like deer." (11)

Spark is, at its heart, the story of a quiet girl who learns that she is enough just as she is. It's a middle child story — she has older brother, younger twins, Mina gets overlooked, they don't hear her cry for help, or when her egg hatches. But it's also a "born this way" story about acceptance, self-doubt, and discovering you are exactly who you were meant to be.

Spark is a book for quiet kids who have trouble finding their words, but it's not about learning to be loud. In the words of Pixit, Mina's storm beast, "Different isn't wrong."

There are many funny moments, but quiet-funny. Like this line:

"Yes, it was chance alone that shaped our future," Professor Dano said. "Chance and absent-mindedness. And a certain disregard for cleanliness." (52)

What I think could have been done better:
I think there's a tendency to over-explain the messages. I'd prefer if the author trusted the reader more to understand. The statements of underlying themes got a bit annoying. For example:

"You can't dismiss facts just because you don't like where they lead." (116)

"Even though she'd upset everyone, they still loved her." (117)

"Just because she's quiet doesn't mean she isn't brave." (123)

"If what she thought proved to be true, none fo them would be able to continue to live blithely in the cocoon of ignorance." (126)
(Pixit does mock this sentence at least.)

Also, after spending so much time on the problem, the ending feels rushed, clipped. I would have liked this expanded.

But overall this was a satisfying read that I think a lot of children will enjoy.

The only truly serious problem with this book is that it makes me want a storm beast so very badly I can't bear it!

Mina has been minding her Storm-beast egg for two years and it is ready to hatch! She has no idea what it will be but she is ready to be a real Storm Guardian. In her cacophonous house she is an anomaly; quite and diminutive, she rarely speaks. Her family is totally surprised when Pixit hatches, a Lightening Beast. Beasts usually match their Guardians in temperament, but Lightening Beast Guardians are usually loud, overbearing, and reckless, everything Mina is not..
Despite her parent's advice, she goes off to the Mytris Lightening School to learn her craft. On the way she makes the first friend she has ever had, another Lightening Beast Guardian, Jyx. In school she meets more people, all loud and outgoing, and a core group that accept her for who she is. She is constantly doubting herself, one negative about the book, she perseverates on the fact that she does not have the ability to do her job. She eventually finds her place and learns how to use her courage as well as help those who can't. help themselves.
It is a nice story about believing in yourself and stereotypes. A good story for lovers of dragons and mystical creatures. I would recommend it for grades four and up, especially those who cannot get enough fantasy books.

Mina is eagerly awaiting the hatching of her egg. In this world dragons control different aspects of the weather like rain, snow, wind, sun and lightning. Children are paired with the dragons and control all aspects of the weather. When Pixit hatches and it is revealed he is a lightning dragon Mina's family is skeptical. They can't believe she is fiesty enough for lightning. But soon Mina is at the lightning school learning how to work with Pixit. It is at school that Mina learns some interesting information about what the controlled weather is doing to the lands around them. Mina and her friends are determined to fix things.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the world Durst created. The dragons that control aspects of the weather and the perfect climate the create in their country. I also really liked the fact that there were consequences for that perfect climate. What I wasn't as thrilled about was Mina herself. Her self-doubt is almost crippling and while it is understandable in the beginning it gets old and repetitive after a while. I wanted her to grow and develop way more than she did. Her slow development made the leap she made at the end seem almost too big. I also thought it was just a bit strange that the kids were paired with dragons for life, but the dragons were only useful for a couple of years.

Loved this book! This is the 4th book by this author that I have read and with each one, I become a bigger fan. I love how this encourages being brave and speaking up for what you believe. Great characters both human and beast alike. Cannot wait to purchase this for my library!

This story is a triumph for every quiet person and those who felt a little out of step with their peers. A fantasy set in a world with dragon-like storm beasts, Mina and her lightening beast Pixit are learning how to make the weather idyllic in her country. Mina doesn't like to be the center of attention but decides to make herself heard when it's important to her, and to society. She discovers that making things better in one place can have unforeseen consequences and one quiet girl can learn to be strong and change the world.

In the time since I finished <i>Spark</i> by Sarah Beth Durst, I have felt thoroughly conflicted about my rating for it. I haven't quite been able to determine just what my final opinion of the novel is. There are quite a number of really good pieces to this book, but I just felt regularly that it was bogged down with an unnecessary exacerbation of a character who could not grow on her own until the very end. While the novel had an immense amount of potential, with a world both exceptionally unique and exceedingly exciting and one of the most amazing starts to a novel I've read in quite some time, I can't help feeling that the execution for the major portion of the book fell flat.

In <i>Spark</i>, the children of the world are responsible for taking care of the most important jobs surrounding weather that ultimately affects everyone. At a certain age, qualified children are given an egg which will later hatch a weather beast based on the child with whom they will be matched. These creatures control the weather from sunlight to rain to wind to lightning. And when Mina's egg hatches a lightning beast, her family is sure there must have been a mistake. But before they know it, she has been accepted at the lightning school and travels away to begin her education.

The best thing Durst does for her novel is build a fantastic and captivating universe. I was immediately jealous that I hadn't been the one to imagine up such an amazing world. From the weather beasts themselves, to the beautiful descriptions of how they run the entire society, I was hooked. And the beginning of the novel, in which we were introduced both to the world and the main character, Mina, was superbly written. I fell in love with her character immediately, which ultimately lead to a great deal of disappointment when I realized how poorly her development throughout the novel would be portrayed.

The level of repetitiveness in Mina's incessant lack of confidence about <i>everything</i> and especially in herself and her role in the world grew increasingly frustrating with each turned page. While it was understandable, relatable even, for Mina to have these feelings during such a pivotal moment of her life, but after a while the novel fell into a formulated routine each time. First, Mina began to feel doubt in herself--whether as a result of her family's responses or her own failings--and then her lightning beast, Pixit, annoyingly refuses to acknowledge how she's feeling but rather tells her that she's wrong to doubt herself.

And I think, ironically, Pixit is what destroyed my entire experience with this novel. Where the message was wonderful and the plot was fantastic, the character of Pixit completely decimated the wonderful character that Mina began as. He made little sense in a number of ways, hatching out of his egg with the ability to speak to Mina instantly, unlike literally every single infant in existence. There was a suspension of belief there that I was unable to accommodate largely because Pixit was just massively annoying.

For the most part, I did enjoy this novel, and I think it will be an exceptional read for many young children happening up on it. I doubt they'll be as annoyed with Pixit as I was, but if there was one thing Durst really need to do for her story, it was to overhaul his character and make him less pushy and more realistic because, frankly, he brought the entire novel down.

I think this book is the modern Eragon and the relationship born from kid to monster but in this case dragon. The villagers realizes she has a powerful gift and bonds with an unlikely beast like fire and water but In this case it's kindness and lightning and fire. Now her world turns upside down and it's up to Nina to save the day even with a,dangerous feat. Such a modern twist to a classic bond of how to train your Dragon and eragon.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. We will definitely consider this title for our JFiction collection. That is why we give this book 5 stars!

Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this book! Can't wait till its in print to get not only for my store - where I'll be hand selling for sure - but for my granddaughter who will also enjoy the action filled story with the strong female lead!