Stacy A. Nyikos Book Title: Dragon Wishes Publication Date: September 2008 Publisher: Blooming Tree Press ISBN: Author's Website: http://www.stacyanyikos.com

Description of Book:

Fantasy, middle grade novel. Eleven-year-old Alex is searching. So is Shin Wa. They both need to find a path out of the darkness that surrounds them. Shin Wa’s journey leads her to the Black mountains of the far north in China. There she discovers more than just the last surviving dragons. She finds a way to save mankind. It all lies in a single pearl of wisdom. The gem is also the key to Alex’s own journey. The pearl travels through the ages to find the struggling young girl and her sister. But it is not until Alex discovers how to use the pearl that she finds a path out of the darkness.

About the Author:

Author, Stacy A. Nyikos, loves to travel. Her characters do too. Her award-winning picture book, Shelby, plunges readers deep under the ocean into the mysterious world of sharks. Dragon Wishes, her debut middle grade novel, flies them high above the earth and into the mythical world of Chinese dragons. And her current project, Euromutt, whisks even the most timid traveler far across the ocean and into foreign lands. When she isn’t traveling–either through her imagination or around the globe–Stacy lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her two daughters and husband.

 

 

 

Excerpt:

“Once upon a time –” Alex rolled her eyes. “Auntie Ling, I’m eleven.” She pulled her covers up a little higher to hide the red dragon in her arms. The stuffed toy was tattered and ancient. She’d had it for as long as she could remember. Still, she didn’t feel like she was too old for it. Not totally. “Almost twelve,” Auntie Ling agreed. She rocked in a chair across from Alex and Isa, Alex’s little sister. “I remember. You share the year of the dragon with Shen Po Po, my grandmother.” “Your grandmother’s still alive? She must be really old.” Auntie Ling laughed. “She would not think so, but–” she leaned a little closer and whispered, “she will be eighty-four this year.” “That is old,” Alex said. Auntie Ling smiled and leaned her head of shiny black hair on the chair’s cushion. It was so much darker than Alex’s fine mousy blonde–or even Isa’s curly brown. And so thick. Alex had always loved Auntie Ling’s hair. “She has seen many things.” Auntie Ling continued rocking. “Many things.” She stopped and looked at Alex. Softly, she said, “She even met your parents once. When they came to our wedding in Taiwan.” Alex felt a lump rising. “Mama never told me.” She scratched the horns of her tattered dragon and wished the past were different, even though she knew better. Auntie Ling bent forward and stroked Alex’s hair. The scratching noise quieted. “Shen Po Po told me this story when I was a little girl. I had forgotten it until I talked to her today. She said to me I should tell you the tale.” Alex’s blue eyes looked up at Auntie Ling. They glimmered with impossible hope. “Has it got magic in it?” “All Chinese tales have wisdom in them.” “And magic?” Alex asked again. She sat up. In the bed next to her, Isa propped herself up on her elbow. Her favorite horse, Rain, was snuggled up in her arms. Auntie Ling thought for a moment. “It has dragons.” “Then it has magic,” Alex decided. Auntie Ling shrugged. “Shen Po Po told me it was the story that helped her survive the Great War. She was little when her parents died.” Alex hesitated. In a quiet voice, she asked, “Did she get to say goodbye?” Auntie Ling shook her head. “No. It was sudden, like…” she looked at Alex. “Like many things.” Alex nodded. “The story, it helped Shen Po Po to find her way.” Alex turned toward her aunt to listen more closely. She needed to find her way too. She’d been searching for weeks. Every day took her further away. Maybe the story’s magic would help. Nothing else had. Auntie Ling began...

Reviews:

"Dragon Wishes by Stacy Nyikos is a wonderful book that mixes grief and hope to end with a realization that not only does life continue, but that joy is possible."
-- Alex McGilvery, Armchair Interviews
http://reviews.armchairinterviews.com/reviews/dragon-wishes