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Booktalking Colorado Full Record:
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Title: |
Eragon |
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Author: |
Paolini, Christopher |
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Date Published: |
2003 |
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Genre: |
Fantasy |
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Grade Level: |
5 - 12 |
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Booktalker: |
Sam Marsh |
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Awards: |
Blue Spruce Award Winner |
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Booktalk:
Eragon was the first of the Dragon Riders. It was an honor for me to bear his name. Even though the Dragon Riders were no more. Galbatorix had seen to that. Now he rules as King of Alagaesia using cruelty and sorcery.
I was hunting in the Spine, the great range of mountains to the West of Carvahall where I lived with my uncle and cousin. My bow was drawn and I took my last steadying breath before loosing my arrow when--an explosion shattered the night, scattering the herd. My shot missed, and where the deer had been there was a large smoldering circle with a wisp of smoke and a burnt smell. In the center lay an oval dark-blue stone with thin veins of white spider webbed across it about a foot long. When I picked it up, it seemed lighter than it should have. I took it home with me with the hope that it would bring enough to pay for the meat, which its arrival had taken from me.
But, nobody was interested in the stone, not even the traders when they arrived for their annual visit. It proved impenetrable; harder than a diamond. I kept it on a shelf in my room. Until the night I was roused from my sleep by squeaking. I soon realized that it came from the stone. Finally it fell silent and I returned to sleep, only to waken later to see the stone rocking back and forth in the moonlight. Then, it rolled onto the floor and a crack appeared, followed by more. A piece wobbled and toppled to the floor followed by a series of squeaks and a small dark head. Soon the creature emerged completely from the stone that was now obviously an egg. It moved into the moonlight and I saw it clearly for the first time. It was a dragon.
Perhaps I had been named Eragon for a reason. Perhaps I would be the first of the "New Dragon Riders." If I could keep us both alive and away from Galbatorix long enough . . .
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