Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Dragon of Never-Was
Fiction
For ages 8 to 12
Simon and Schuster, 2006 ISBN: 978-0689855719
Theodora Oglethorpe is trying to live the life of a normal twelve year old girl and she is not quite managing it. No matter what she does she cannot forget the Events of Last Summer when three wizards, two wyverns, and a demon exploded into her life. On that occasion Theodora ended up quite literally saving the day and she also had her first close encounter with magic, an encounter that she found profoundly disturbing.
Theodora is therefore delighted when her father tells her that they are both going to the Scottish island of Scornsay so her father can take a look at a peculiar scale that has been found there. It only takes one look for Theodora to know that the scale is not unlike the ones that one of her wyvern friends left behind after the Events of Last Summer. Clearly there once was or may still be a dragon on the island.
Things get decidedly more complicated when Theodora makes friends with a ghostly dog and when she tames a biddable fire. There can be no doubt now that Theodora has magic powers, magic powers which are just coming into their own.
In the end Theodora has to make a very difficult choice. Is she going to embrace her magical heritage or is she going to reject it? Will she and the other good wizards be able to counteract the dark forces that threaten to completely destroy the island of Scornsay?
