A Boy and His Dragon

Bradley Wallace Murphy just turned thirteen, and he's not happy about it. His life is lousy, with no relief in sight. He doesn't fit in at school, he's no good at sports, a bully torments him, he's a disappointment to his parents, and his only "friends" are fictional characters on a TV show called "Dark Shadows." He's on the verge of manhood - and wants no part of that, either. Then he finds the egg. And everything changes. From this egg hatches Whilly, a supposedly mythological dragon that bonds with him physically, emotionally and spiritually. The sudden responsibility of hiding and feeding and caring for a rapidly growing dragon in a small California city in 1970 forces Bradley Wallace to grow up whether he wants to or not. Through their adventures together, boy and dragon learn the true nature of their symbiosis, and Bradley Wallace comes to understand that he is not just a misfit kid who happened to find a misfit creature from some other time. He is something far more dangerous. More dangerous than anyone in history. So dangerous that he'll be killed if the truth comes out. The boy who doesn't want to grow up comes to realize that it might actually be better if he didn't.