The Dragon of the Drowned World — K.S. Nikakis

When the earth shivers and shakes and the oceans rise over the lands, thirteen year old Jojo washes up on a strange shore. The adult survivors build a ramshackle settlement from the debris the ocean delivers, and make sense of their predicament by comparing themselves to Noah and his Ark. But not everyone agrees and all Jojo wants is his family back. He scours the beach each day looking for things that aren't broken or dirty and stumbles on a strange, silvery plate. When the plate is smashed by an older boy, Jojo stores the pieces in his secret cave, but then odd things start to happen. The ferocious blood crabs give way to him on the beach and when he's attacked by a giant serpent, it suddenly lets him go. His fellow wash up, Lee, finds a strange, poisoned little creature and friendship grows as they team up to care for it. Lee insists the creature is a griffin and Jojo's plate pieces belong to a loong or dragon but Jojo has enough problems without adding mythic creatures to the list. When Lee's little creature takes to the skies and the adults set out to hunt it down, Jojo and Lee embark on a desperate quest to save it. But as their journey takes them ever deeper into danger and the plates seem to grow in power, Jojo fears the dragon might turn out to be the deadliest creature of them all. Like adventure stories where mythic animals come alive? Where characters tackle the really big questions of life? You'll love The Dragon of the Drowned World. K S Nikakis holds a M. Ed. (Hons) in the purposes of dragons in selected 20th century children's literature and a Ph.D in Joseph Campbell's hero myth.