New Dragon City

by Mari Mancusi

Overview

A high-stakes, action-packed adventure about friendship, survival, and fighting for ones you love, perfect for fans of Wings of Fire and How to Train Your Dragon. 

No one predicted the dragon apocalypse. The dragons came suddenly and decimated the world as we knew it, including New York City. Now, three years later, Noah, his hardcore survivalist father, and a ragtag group of survivors are barely scraping by in this new reality. Kids scavenge not only for materials in abandoned homes but also for leftover books at the library. Adults spend their time establishing a make-shift society and defending their shelter... with any means available. At least for the few months the dragons are hibernating, until it’s no longer safe aboveground.

Noah has seen the damage these creatures can do firsthand. When it comes to dragons: It's kill or be killed. But a chance encounter between Noah and a young dragon causes him to question everything he thought he knew. With rumors spreading that there’s a group of survivors living in harmony with dragons instead of hiding underground, Noah teams up with his fire-breathing ally to find out if peace between humans and dragons is really possible. But the division runs deeper than scales versus skin because trying to follow his heart might just cost Noah his family too. If Noah and his father can’t see eye to eye, can he really get humans and dragons to?
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316376792
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	02/20/2024
Series:	New Dragon City
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	6,865
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Mari Mancusi always wanted a dragon as a pet. Unfortunately, the fire insurance premiums proved a bit too large and her house a bit too small, so she chose to write about them instead. As a former Emmy Award-winning TV news producer, she now works as a full-time author, having published over two dozen books for kids, teens, and adults. When not writing, Mari enjoys traveling, cosplay, watching cheesy (and scary) horror movies, and playing video games. A graduate of Boston University, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Jacob, daughter, Avalon, and their two dogs.

Editorial Reviews

An entertaining, flashy novel centering family and interspecies friendship.”—Publishers Weekly

“This fast-paced adventure provides an inventive take on the postapocalyptic novel…New Dragon City shows that things are not always what they seem.”—Booklist

"A heartwarming, hopeful dragon-filled journey through family life and the importance of finding common ground."—Kirkus

Praise for Dragon Ops:
 "Even reluctant readers are likely to find something to keep them engaged... A fun, fast-paced read for video game fans, adventurers, and fantasy readers. Highly recommended."—School Library Journal

"With this adventure, Mancusi (Geeks and the Holy Grail) employs common gaming tropes, interweaving fantasy and mundane elements to create a world that feels familiar and yet enjoyably dangerous. The concepts–rogue AIs, theme parks gone haywire–may be well visited, but Mancusi successfully delivers a sense of urgency to her entertaining tale."—Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Once and Future Geek:

"A highly imaginative twist on the legend of King Arthur, complete with time travel, programming, and fierce friendships, The Camelot Code is the perfect pick for tweens who love medieval lore and geek culture in equal measure!"—Christina Soontornvat, author of The Changelings series

"Dashes of romance, bullying, social anxiety, family stresses, commentary on middle school social structure, and bits of history and Arthurian lore all combine to create a thought-provoking adventure story... Blending elements of several genres, this story will be appealing to many different types of readers."—School Library Journal

"Parents of gamers, Austin author Mari Mancusi's newest may just lure your screenager away from the headset...It's a twisty, fast-paced adventure that melds the real-life consequences of Jumanji with a mashup of the best medieval and high-tech details."—The Austin American-Statesman

From the Publisher

08/22/2022

Five years after the dragon apocalypse wiped out most of humankind, and two years after his survivalist father’s bunker ran out of food, 12-year-old Noah is eking out a tenuous existence as part of a band of survivors in New York City. When the dragons awake from their winter hibernation a month early, while Noah’s out scavenging for nonperishables, the group relocates from their part-time hotel residence to their subway-tunnel shelter. Noah, however, secretly remains aboveground to search with his dad for Noah’s mother, who has purportedly joined a cult of dragon sympathizers. When a chance Times Square encounter with a young dragon named Asha leaves Noah inexplicably connected to her via a mental bond, the revelation suggests it may be possible for humans and dragons to coexist peacefully, but Noah’s father refuses to back down from his anti-dragon crusade. In a contemporary-feeling metropolitan adventure replete with dragon deniers and fake news, Mancusi (the Dragon Ops series) lightly sketches the society’s day-to-day realities; if the resulting world is unevenly built, it also imbues Noah’s experiences with a sense of awe, making for an entertaining, flashy novel centering family and interspecies friendship. Noah reads as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Mandy Hubbard, Emerald City Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

2022-08-17
When a young dragon saves Noah’s life, he realizes that dragons may not be as monstrous as he was taught.

It’s April in New York City, and a lot has changed in the years since dragons appeared and society collapsed. The time has come for people to go underground for the summer to avoid the dangerous beasts emerging from hibernation, but Noah’s mom has been missing for two months, and his dad isn’t going without her. Not wanting to be separated from both his parents, Noah devises a plan to get himself left behind. A chance encounter with a baby dragon named Asha sets a series of events in motion that cascade beyond Noah’s control, threatening the safety of everyone—human and dragon. Caught between parents who are as unable to see eye to eye as the humans and dragons, 12-year-old Noah is a sympathetic character with a gentle demeanor and a kind heart. His struggle to balance a desire not to disappoint either of his parents with his own developing ideas about what is right and true will resonate deeply. A nuanced exploration of the ways external influences can change us for better or worse is threaded through this story with a vividly rendered setting and a tense, high-stakes adventure at its center. Noah and his family default to White; there is some racial diversity in the supporting cast.

A heartwarming, hopeful dragon-filled journey through family life and the importance of finding common ground. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews