The authors of these four books use a narrative device common to much fantasy fiction: the notion of quest. Sometimes that quest requires a physical journey, and sometimes it involves searching for something closer to home, but the very process is almost invariably life-changing for the characters involved.

In Kathy Hoopmann’s Tremada (Puffin, $16.95 pb, 185 pp), Shianna travels into the world of Tremada in order to help a tiny, injured dragon she has discovered in the forest near her home. Once in Tremada, Shianna learns that the dragon can only be healed by the mysterious Song of Life, which must be sung by the gnomes in the Healing Grove. There is something amiss with the Song however, and this reflects the deeper problems within Tremada. Shianna is drawn into a quest to help solve these problems, but she cannot do it alone.