Dragons. In modern day North America. How can sixteen-year-old Owen fight back when he can barely pass algebra? It takes a village to train a dragon slayer, and Owen needs all the help he can get. Owen is destined by birth to carry on his family's legacy as a noble dragon slayer. Siobhan, his classmate and new friend, agrees to be Owen's bard, slated to tell his stories for posterity. Together they embark on an epic quest to protect their rural Canadian town from dragons who hunger for fossil fuels. For in this wildly creative alternate version of our world, dragons feed on carbon emissions, and they'll take down any human who stands in their way.
Owen and Siobhan have homework to do, instruments to practice, and college to think of, but their most important job is to keep the residents of Trondheim, Ontario, from getting caught in the dragons' cross fire. Literally.
Fans of M.T. Anderson and readers who love contemporary fantasy, alternate history, and old Norse ballads will devour this clever, award-winning tale of friendship and adventure.
Los Angeles Times Book Prize FinalistKirkus Prize for Young People's Literature FinalistKirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of the YearPublishers Weekly Best Book of the YearWilliam C. Morris Debut Award FinalistYALSA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults