Author(s): Linda McNabb

New Zealand titles - children

There's something odd about 12-year-old Toby, and it's not just his amazing ability to talk to dragons or his purple eyes. It's not even his uncanny ability to get into trouble and the way he's been sacked from every job at the castle. His last chance to avoid a cold winter in the poorhouse comes when he is appointed as page to the equally mysterious Prince Blaise. When Toby meets Sanelle, Blaise's feisty sister, he learns of the dreadful secret the nasty Prince carries in a secret stone talisman, and of the deadly plan he has hatched which will endanger the life of Klel, Toby's dragon friend. Eventually Toby finds some of the answers to his own personal mystery, but not before he has been exiled from his home, forced to become a burglar, kidnap a Princess and steal a King's treasure! A lively, engaging story which wraps itself around the reader and whips them along at a furious pace into a world of adventure, mystery and fantastic dragons. Linda McNabb is a talented writer with a love of storytelling, she is a mother of two children and some amazing characters who leap off the pages of her stories. Previously published by Shortland Publications in the educational market, this is her first general title. A computer operator, Linda lives part of the time in Auckland, with her husband and two daughters, and the rest of the time in the rich, fertile land of her imagination. ** Ages 9-12 ** ++ Finalist, New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards (Junior Fiction Section), 2003 ++ Paperback