The Dragon's Boy — David Carrico

Growing up in a small village, Evann is curious about everything, and drives everybody crazy with his endless questions. Eventually, he runs off, seeking answers wherever they might be found.The first place he finds some of them is when he encounters the dragon Rufous, who is almost as curious as he is. One of the things he discovers is rather appalling-dragons can breathe fire, but only after they've consumed human blood. Fortunately, Rufous is not inclined in that direction.As their friendship deepens, they find trouble together in the form of another dragon, Rufous' enemy Moriach. At the Dragon Conclave where a new ruler of the dragons is to be selected, Moriach's fire-breathing prowess makes him the leading candidate. But after Evann lets Rufous drink some of his blood, his dragon emerges from the contest as the winner and new Solon.Moriach's resentment leads him to ally with an evil wizard. So Evann and Rufous still have a fight on their hands-and one that will require the boy to develop magic powers to match those of the wizard. Which he thinks he can do, because he's not just any boy. He's the dragon's boy.