Brumbletide and the Ironsnout Dragon - J. Reese Bradley

Royals, royals everywhere!

"But I’m not a princess, Your Majesty."

"Look around you, my dear. We are all royalty here at Emily. You are indeed a princess here on these grounds."

Maggie Prewitt is a rough girl with a rough family. But just before her thirteenth birthday, her life takes an unexpected and extraordinary turn. In the span of only a few weeks, Maggie runs away from home in search of her father, tragedy strikes, and what becomes her new home is the most peculiar of places.

The small English town of Little Ipswich is completely ordinary in every way except, that is, for Emily. The monstrous Emily Castle floats right off the Little Ipswich shore in the Lux Sea, and the most strange and magical things are said to go on there. Astonishingly, it is in none other than Emily Castle where Maggie now finds herself living as student of the prestigious Emily Academy where young people are groomed into their royal destiny.

Once inside, Maggie finds that all the rumors were true. Everyone, young or old, rich or poor, is a queen, king, princess, or prince inside the castle walls. And if that wasn’t unusual enough, Maggie finds a slew of magical phenomena such as eternal children called Snickerlings, flying animals called warmouths, talking fire, and classes full of miraculous happenings.

But before long, it becomes crystal clear to Maggie that all that glitters is not gold at Emily and that things unseen may not only be secret-but sinister.