Raising Dragons (Dragons in Our Midst, Book 1) [Paperback]

Bryan Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2004

Product Description:

Raising Dragons is a contemporary fantasy novel, the first book in the best-selling Dragons in our Midst series. This story inspires young people to dig deep within to find their God-given strengths and use them to overcome any obstacle. It is both a hair-raising, modern-day adventure and a glimpse into another world a world of knights, dragons, and fair maidens.

Plot Description:
A boy learns of his dragon past; a girl has known of hers for years. They combine their faith, courage, and love to overcome evil, a slayer who seeks to bring an end to dragon heritage, forever.
The kids at school call Billy Dragon Breath for good reason. His breath is bad! It isn't the normal, morning-mouth bad; it's the hot-as-fire, don't-you-dare-get-near-me bad. Trouble erupts when his hot breath sets off the fire sprinklers in the boy's restroom at school, and his parents learn that they've kept their secret for too long.
Billy finally discovers the secret. His father was once a dragon! Now that's a piece of news a guy doesn't deal with every day! Billy feels betrayed, alien, lost. When the dragon slayer traps him on a cold mountaintop in West Virginia, Billy learns to battle with weapons of steel and spirit while relying on a power he doesn't understand, a power that helps him learn to trust again.
Bonnie, an orphan, tries to find a home, someone to love her, even though she feels like a freak because of a body feature that she calls a deformity. But this unusual feature becomes a life-saving attribute as she discovers that her love for others and her faith in a creator hold the answers she's looking for.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In Raising Dragons, Bryan Davis has infused fantasy into every teenager's normal high school experience. The result is riveting. The adventure mixes believable characters with heart-thumping suspense. Realistic heroes defeating delightfully evil rogues. Good versus evil it doesn't get any better than this. Readers will be furiously reading late into the night. --Donita K. Paul (Award-winning author of Dragonspell)

About the Author

Bryan Davis is the author of the best-selling Dragons in Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series, contemporary/fantasy blends for young people. His book, Eye of the Oracle, hit number one on the January 2007, Young Adult CBA best-seller list.
He has also written a fantasy series for adults, Tales of Starlight. The first book, Masters & Slayers, releases in September of 2010.
Bryan is also the author of several other works including The Image of a Father (AMG) and Spit and Polish for Husbands (AMG). Bryan lives in Western Tennessee with his wife, Susie, and their children. Bryan and Susie have homeschooled their four girls and three boys.
Bryan was born in 1958 and grew up in the eastern U.S. From the time he taught himself how to read before school age, through his seminary years and beyond, he has demonstrated a passion for the written word, reading and writing in many disciplines and genres, including theology, fiction, devotionals, poetry, and humor.
Bryan is a graduate of the University of Florida (B.S. in Industrial Engineering). In high school, he was valedictorian of his class and won academic awards in English, Algebra, Advanced Math, and Science. He was also a member of the National Honor Society and voted Most Likely to Succeed.
He continues to further his writing education by attending relevant writing conferences and conventions. Although he is now a full time writer, Bryan was a computer professional for over 20 years.
Masters & Slayers - #1 in the Tales of Starlight Series AMG/Living Ink Books
I Know Why the Angels Dance Adult Contemporary Novel AMG/Living Ink Books
Raising Dragons - #1 in the Dragons in Our Midst Series AMG/Living Ink Books
The Candlestone - #2 in the Dragons in Our Midst Series AMG/Living Ink Books
Circles of Seven - #3 in the Dragons in Our Midst Series AMG/Living Ink Books
Tears of a Dragon - #4 in the Dragons in Our Midst Series AMG/Living Ink Books
Eye of the Oracle - #1 in the Oracles of Fire Series AMG/Living Ink Books
Enoch's Ghost - #2 in the Oracles of Fire Series AMG/Living Ink Books
Last of the Nephilim - #3 in the Oracles of Fire Series AMG/Living Ink Books
The Bones of Makaidos - #4 in the Oracles of Fire Series AMG/Living Ink Books

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Living Ink Books (June 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899571700
• ISBN-13: 978-0899571706
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bryan Davis is the author of the following young adult fantasy series: Dragons in our Midst, Oracles of Fire, Echoes from the Edge, and Dragons of Starlight. He also wrote I Know Why the Angels dance, a contemporary novel for adults.

After laboring as a computer geek for 20 years, Bryan followed a dream to become an author. He began by writing a story to motivate his seven children to gain some excitement about writing, and that story grew into a novel. After spending the next eight years learning the craft and enduring more than 200 rejections from publishers and agents, he broke through with his best-selling series Dragons in our Midst. He is now a full-time author and lives with his wife, Susie, and their children in western Tennessee.

Bryan's novels have been readily accepted in schools worldwide, whether public, Christian (Protestant or Catholic), Jewish, or otherwise. Such is their wide appeal. For more information, see his website - http://www.daviscrossing.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dragons in Our Midst, March 9, 2005

By 

Rebekah Martin (MI,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raising Dragons (Dragons in Our Midst, Book 1) (Paperback)

At school, Billy Bannister is called Dragon Breath because of his extraordinarily scorching breath. He has been trying to hide it from his parents but it is becoming worse recently. When Billy accidentally sets off the bathroom fire systems at school because of it, he realizes he can't conceal his problem any longer. That's when Billy's parents drop the bomb: his dad is a former dragon that has been living in human form for hundreds of year- not the sort of thing a guy is expecting to find out!

The bathroom episode has other serious repercussions too. Billy and his family's dragon heritage has been revealed to the dangerous sect of the dragon slayers who- as the name suggests- are out to kill all the dragons pretending to be humans as well as their children.

I love to read fantasy, but there seems to be so little of it in the Christian market. I am so excited to have found Raising Dragons. It is well written and a very enjoyable read. I am looking forward to reading more of the books in this series.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fantasy read, March 2, 2005

By 

Cheryl Russell "Book reviewer, writer" (United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Raising Dragons (Dragons in Our Midst, Book 1) (Paperback)

Even though I'm an adult, and this book is geared for kids, I really enjoyed it. A story of good vs. evil that started centuries ago and rages generations later. When Billy's world is turned upside down by a father he thought he knew, he finds himself grappling with his faith. Bonnie, an orphan in foster care, longs for friends and family that will help her bear her deep secret. Will Bonnie help Billy come to terms with the truth about his father and himself? Can Bonnie trust Billy with the secret in her ever present backpack?
Raising Dragons is the first in the Dragons in Our Midst series. I intend on reading them all.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Roll Over Tolkien, tell C.S. Lewis the News, October 15, 2004

By 

P. J. Zannini "Truthteller" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising Dragons (Dragons in Our Midst, Book 1) (Paperback)

J.R.R. who? Think I'm kidding? Then wait till you start reading the book.

Bryan Davis has done a masterful job of weaving together a fascinating world in this first book of the series, and should he continue his name will be mentioned in the same breath as Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Piers Anthony (Xanth), Terry Brooks (Sword of Shannara) and others.

Raising Dragons, though set in this world, is a brilliant fantasy piece that starts fast and doesn't slow down. Mr. Davis takes advantage of our prior knowledge of fantasy (who hasn't heard the Authurian legends or know of dragons) and seamlessly builds the back story into the plot of the book, always careful to provide us with just enough information to understand the unfolding events, without giving away what might be coming along.

Even though Raising Dragons is written from the perspective of a teenage boy, the way the story is written it will draw you in and capture you, regardless of your age. Along the way you'll learn to identify with the characters, appreciate the mysteries and look forward to that next page turning. And, if you're willing to trust me, trust this: you won't want to stop turning the pages! This book is a thriller with lots of twists and pleasantly unexpected turns.

The book is a great story that has a moral, but it is not story written just to convey a moral. Mr. Davis has done an adroit job of communicating honest to goodness feelings, worries, concerns and showing how the characters find their solutions without being "preachy." Which of course, is wonderful. Now, can I hear an AMEN?!

Raising Dragons: Read it, you won't regret it.