I just finished reading Thirteenth Child by Wrede. It was a fun read. Imagine the United States in the 1800's with settlers braving the unknown and known dangers of leaving civilization. Now add magic as an everyday part of life, change the name of the nation to Columbia (as in "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean"), and add to the dangers our pioneers faced creatures such as mammoths and saber-toothed cats, and dragons and other magical creatures that threatened crops and livestock and human lives. Go along with the main characters -- a girl who is a thirteenth child (thought by most of her relatives to be extremely unlucky), and her twin, the seventh son of a seventh son -- (thought to be the most powerful and lucky of magicians) as they move with their family to a town barely inside the confines of civilization. I've read Patricia's Wredes Dealing with Dragons series, too, a while back, and enjoyed it very much.
