Tinsey Clover by Chelsea Flagg

Tinsey is an elf the size of a chipmunk.  She can't carry a tune in a bucket and she thinks she might be of the other fairy group that lives in the fairy woods.  She longs to meet them but she is barricaded in their camp so others can't harm them and they won't let her go outside.  They tell her trolls eat them, everybody out there is their enemy and it just isn't safe.  She doesn't know if she believes them...

This self-published children's book is charming and has a good message.  It has been published and you can grab a copy now.

When she embarrasses herself in front of the town council, she decides she's going to go hide and get away from them.  She gets brave enough to sneak out the hole and go exploring.  And the first thing she runs into is a troll.

Luckily, the young troll doesn't eat elves.  He's a vegetarian.  He's also an excellent cook.  But when his mom comes up, she's going to flatten the pest that has gotten in their cave.  His dad wants to do the same, so Tinsey watches them fight amongst themselves and sneaks out of the cave.  Then she finds the one who is setting fires to their barricade is a dragon.  Her uncle has discovered that, too, and he brings the men of camp to kill the dragon.  Tinsey and her brother fight to save the dragon.  (She just has a cold, she's not trying to hurt anyone.  When she sneezes, she throws flames.)

All the stuff they've heard about the other types living in the fairy woods is false.  The King wants power and to control all his people so he's made them scared to leave.  Tinsey talks to them and discovers they all used to be friends in the past before this policy started.  And she does her best to show the elves not everyone is mean or bad.

I enjoyed both the characters and the story.  If we were all kind to each other and gave ourselves a chance to know the others, the world would be a better place.