Book Recommendation: “Juniper’s Dragon” by Thomas Davis

Recommended by MARGARET MAGLE, OtherWorlds Books and More owner

If you’re willing to believe dragons can be found in modern-day New Mexico, then Juniper’s Dragon is the book for you. 

Set in the El Malpais wilderness, Juniper’s Dragon revolves around a young man who, after a particularly bad day at school, confronts a beautiful and mysterious witch who lives in the desert. Trying to escape her madness, Juniper finds himself in the lava tubes deep inside the earth and encounters the “great lizards” living there. 

As a friendship develops between Juniper and the dragon Simalucroix, we learn that the dragons have been hiding for thousands of years and now want to return to the ways of old. 

While the dragons are fighting their battles, Juniper is fighting his own demons: issues at school and home, and the challenges of growing up.

But all is not doom and gloom for Juniper. Friendship and love develop after a young Navajo girl, Lily, enters his life. Another student, Sam, helps Juniper deal with his struggles and finds comfort in his friendship with Juniper and his family, including Simalucroix and the dragons. 

When Tom [Davis, author] told me he had written another dragon book and wanted me to review it, I was thrilled and honored. Having read his other fiction books, The Weirding Storm: A Dragon Epic, In the Unsettled Homeland of Dreams and Apples for the Wild Stallion, I knew I was in for a treat, and I wasn’t disappointed. As a poet, Tom has a wonderful grasp on prose and lyric, which shows through in descriptions of the rich landscape of New Mexico.

I have graded the reading level of the book as Young Adult due to the ages of the main characters, but I am far past that age range and I still became wrapped up in the story from page one. 

The book could be enjoyed by middle-school readers as well. It tackles topics like drug use, alcohol abuse and violence, but it does so in a way that growth, family, friendship and redemption shine through. It’s a feat only a true poet and wordsmith can accomplish. My final words on Juniper’s Dragon: read this book.