The Lost Ryu

Description

Kohei Fujiwara has never seen a giant dragon in real life. The big ry? all disappeared from Japan after World War II, and twenty years later, they've become the stuff of legend. Their smaller cousins, who can fit in your palm, are all that remain. And Kohei loves his ry?, Yuharu, but he has a memory of the big ry?. He knows that's impossible. In his mind, he can see his grandpa - Ojiisan - gazing up at the big ry? with what looks like total and absolute wonder. When Kohei was little, he dreamed he'd go on a grand quest to bring the big ry? back, to get Ojiisan to smile again. But now, Ojiisan is really, really sick. And Kohei is running out of time. Kohei needs to find the big ry? now, before it's too late. With the help of Isolde, his new half-Jewish, half-Japanese neighbour, and Isolde's Yiddish-speaking dragon, Cheshire, he thinks he can do it. Maybe. From debut author Emi Watanabe Cohen comes a story of magic, a mysterious family legacy and the lengths to which we'll go to protect the people we love. 'An extraordinary book filled with dragons big and small.' Carole Wilkinson, multi-award-winning author of Dragonkeeper

Emi Watanabe Cohen wrote her first novel when she was 12 years old - the most complete draft she can find clocks in at 234,780 words. That's over 1,000 pages! Thankfully, her editing skills have improved since then. Her more recent work involves Jewish and/or Japanese folklore, complicated families and a dash of improbable magic. She is a graduate of Brandeis University, where she studied Creative Writing. The Lost Ryu is her debut novel. www.emicohenwrites.com

'Watanable Cohen has created an alternate history where scientists trained ry? to fight in the war ... deftly blending fantasy with complicated family life, emotional scars and a message of coexistence.' The Age