by: Jason McDonald

Dancing Word Reviewer           

 

Title: Raising Dragons

Author: Bryan Davis

Publisher: Living Ink Books

ISBN: 0-89957-170-0

Genre: Inspirational/Fantasy

 

In the years of King Arthur, twelve dragons, with the help of Merlin the wizard, agreed to become humans to avoid being killed by the dragon slayers of England. But one of the twelve, Gartrand, betrayed the other eleven. Soon, Devin, the greatest dragon slayer of all time, learned of the transformation. With their secret out, only two of the original twelve dragons survived.

 

Over a millennium later, a young teenager named Billy Bannister discovers about his unusual past. Everyone at school calls him “Dragon Breath,” because his breath is very hot. And it’s no wonder, since his father, Jared Bannister, was a dragon!

 

Bonnie Silver struggles to hide her secret. Her mother was a dragon, and because of this, she has wings. Several years before, a dragon slayer stabbed Bonnie’s mother. Now, because her life is endangered, Bonnie escapes to the state foster care system. Can she keep her wings hidden so that she doesn’t meet the same fate as her mother?

 

Now the young dragons are being hunted down. The Bannister house is burned down, and Billy, his parents, and Bonnie head for the hills. Jared, a pilot, loads everyone up in his private plane and take off. But they are far from safe–the dragon slayer has stowed away on the plane. He shoots Jared then grabs Bonnie and jumps from the plane. As he is dying, Jared orders Billy and his mother to parachute to safety.

 

With his father gone, Bonnie a captive of the dragon slayer, and his mother injured, Billy must overcome his fears, and battle the dragon slayer face to face. But he is not alone. His history teacher, and his best friend, Walter, are hot on the slayer’s trail. Will Billy be able to rescue Bonnie? And will Merlin’s mysterious prophecy, written thousands of years ago, be fulfilled? Or is the entire dragon race doomed?

 

Raising Dragons is a perfect choice for anyone who likes adventure, and the legend of King Arthur. Mr.  Davis has the talent for writing cliff-hanger chapters. (I planned to read a couple of chapters of this book right before I did my schoolwork, and ended up reading the entire book.) He constantly put unexpected surprises in the storyline. I felt like I was right there with Billy and Bonnie, battling the dragon slayer. Pick up this story today! But, just a word to the wise, don’t start reading this at night, unless you plan to stay up until 2 in the morning.