NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE NEBULA AND LODESTAR AWARDS FINALIST FOR THE ASTOUNDING, LOCUS, AND BRITISH FANTASY NEWCOMER AWARDS My favorite book of the year . . . a coming-of-age story that is cozy and hair-raising in equal measure.Charlie Jane Anders, The Washington Post

I tore through it, caught up in an enthusiasm for dragons that I hadnt experienced since I was a teenager obsessed with Ursula Le Guins Earthsea and Anne McCaffreys Pern.NPR

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, PopSugar, Chicago Public Library, Polygon, She Reads, Autostraddle

The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generationsuntil fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragons egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisita person in a unique relationship with a dragon.

Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raisingand Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.

For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges aboundboth socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.

Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but theyre also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changingand they might just be the ones to do it.