Dragonhaven

Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley McKinley, award-winning author of Beauty and The Hero and the Crown, among others, is back. This is the first book of hers I’ve read with a male protagonist, but, if you’re a fan, don’t let that stop you. Jake Mendoza lives with his father and a small community on the only dragon reserve in North America. Since his mother died several years ago, he’s withdrawn into his room, spending most of his time playing computer games. The reserve has a small zoo of lizards that are considered dragons, but the real fire-breathing, marsupial dragons, draco australiens, live only in the wild of the park, rarely glimpsed. Then Jake finds a dead poacher, dead mother dragon and one living dragonlet. Breaking federal law, he keeps the baby dragon alive. Now the reserve is fighting an investigation trying to shut it down, while keeping Jake and his dragon a secret. Jake narrates the story in a rambling teen voice that both makes the story feel more intimate and keeps the pace from being frantic. It’s a seductive alternate reality focusing on one boy’s coming of age and our relationship with the wild.