A Gift of Dragons by Anne McCaffrey

I received this illustrated collection of short stories as a gift. All these Pern stories have been published elsewhere but it was a great way to remember the books that I read as a teenager. Pern was a great escape and it's wonderful to see my kids go there too. I so wanted a fire lizard when I first read Dragonsinger, Dragonsong, and Dragondrums. Then I wanted to be a Dragon rider with my own golden queen after I discovered Dragonriders of Pern. I was so pleased when my daughter dressed as Melody for the "come as your favorite literary character" Halloween party. The sad part is that not even the teachers knew who she was. Luckily, she just figured that all the people she was in school with were ignorant and just followed trends. It seems most of them came as characters from Harry Potter. (Yes, she read all those books too and we've been at most of the midnight book release parties.) But McCaffrey's Dragons... as a teenager, I loved the idea of having someone who knows your every thought, your every feeling and is there to help and comfort you. Someone who is connected to you and always there. A presence that is in your mind and loves you unconditionally. I so wanted that psychic connection with someone who understood me. This book reminded me of all that. I'm so glad my kids are reading them too.