A Discovery of Dragons, by Lindsay Galvin

A Discovery of Dragons, by Lindsay Galvin (July 6th 2021 by Chicken House, 2020 in the UK) is a  middle grade speculative fiction book that is tailor-made for kids who love:

--survival stories
--magical animal rescue stories

--dragons

and who ideally have a least a little interest in natural history.

This, apart from the kid part (sigh), would be me (which is how I know that this is true).

Syms, short for Simon, was the cabin boy and ship's fiddler on HMS Beagle when Charles Darwin set forth on his famous voyage of natural history discoveries.  Darwin relied on him more and more as a natural history helper, and so he was right there when Darwin fell overboard, and jumped in to save him.

Nearly drowned, Syms washes ashore on a desolate island.  He has no water, no food, no knife....and there's an active volcano.  There is also a huge golden flying lizard (dragon, says Syms' mind) that keeps grabbing him, and dumping him in the ocean.  Fortunately a large green lizardish creature befriends him, pushing him into the old lava tunnels that will keep him safe from the grabbing flyer, showing him where to find water, and harvesting prickly pears for him....Syms names the clever and charming creature Farthing, and they become firm friends.

Then the volcano erupts.  And Farthing pleads with Syms, with all the non-verbal powers of persuasion possible, to go through the tunnels toward the eruption, to save a clutch of golden eggs from the lava...eggs whose mother is the very same dragon that almost killed him before, who is also trying to save them.  Nor just from the lava but from Syms as well..

So things are very touch and go, but Syms, Farthing, and the eggs end up on HMS Beagle, and Charles Darwin is very interested indeed (although not a dragon believer).  Back in England the eggs hatch into lizards like Farthing, and they are all (including Farthing) sent to live in a pen in the London Zoological Society.  Though Queen Victoria herself takes a keen interest in "her" new "dragons," Syms worries, with good reason, that Victorian London isn't up to recreating the hot volcanic habitat his friends need.  And when one of them dies, he commits treason, breaks them free, and flees to Australia.

25 years later, he goes back to the island in the Galapagos, and he sees his dragons again....now all grown up and flying and flaming....(It is rather sweet.)

There's good solid historical background to the story, and talk of finches and stuff--the ten year old who reads this won't end up learning lots about Darwin from the story (which isn't the point of the book in any event) but will have grasped enough to be comfortable when more Darwin comes their way.  (And there is historical backmatter that offers more information on Darwin and his contribution to science).

My attention was gripped from the beginning, though I did falter a bit when the little dragons are put in the zoo and everything is sad and difficult.  There is a baboon who has also just arrived in the zoo, and she is the object of much interest to the Londoners as well, and she isn't well cared for and dies.  And so I had to quickly flip to the end at this point just to make sure things would be ok.

but that aside, it's really easy to imagine lots of kids loving this lots!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher