Watch the magic that happens when a brave teenage girl helps a dragon grow a heart.
by Jerry Ackerman
ISBN-13: 978-1-61937-505-5
A seventh grade girl befriends a dragon who transzips himself to Earth, pursued by angry dragons from his planet. He meets Lily, who longs for adventure. She gets adventure and challenges when the dragon taps on her window one night. What offense did Py the dragon commit that exiled him from Dragondrop? And how will Lily hide a dragon in the average suburban neighborhood?
Py doesn't want to tell Lily his crime and she has a secret she can't share. Because dragons are solitary, unemotional creatures, they hoard their treasures and rarely share or show their feelings. But something changes inside Py after he meets Lily. He starts to feel emotions, learns about right and wrong, and decides he needs to help her.
But what can a dragon give a human? The answer is unexpected and touching. And the reader learns about true giving and sharing.
My husband, Jerry Ackerman, loved books, hiking, music, his family and the art of storytelling. Writing was Jerry's passion. A disciplined man, Jerry was up at dawn each day to develop and research an idea or to finish a current writing project before heading off to work in Silicon Valley. Such was the case with Dragon Drop, his very last creation.
My husband, Jerry, was a person with a deep imagination and a great capacity for love. He was also a talented writer. His unexpected death following heart surgery on October 17, 2012, left both me and my daughter heartbroken. Our daughter ("Lily" in the book) was the treasure of Jerry's life and he wrote Dragon Drop especially for her. The night before the operation, he handed me the final manuscript to read.
If ever a book contained someone's spirit, this is it. Jerry lit up our lives. I hope reading Dragon Drop will impart his light and magic to you.
--Lesli Ackerman
Excerpt from Dragon Drop
In the dark of her room, I saw her sleeping form. It was hard not to be impressed with her. When dragons sleep, we are inert. We might as well be statues, dragons carved out of stone, and we might be asleep for a day or a night or a hundred years.
But this human child Lily – it was so obvious that even in her deepest sleep, she was alive and her mind hard at work. Watching her sleep gave me this very odd feeling that somehow I should be taking care of her. This is not a feeling I expect any of you dragons to understand.
At last, I felt it was time. With my smallest, least sharp claw - I scratched at the window pane.
Lily stirred, but didn’t wake.
“Lily,” I whispered. This time, the window pane rattled, and I was afraid it would shatter.
Lily awoke slowly. She sat up and looked around.
“Lily, can you hear me?”
“Where are you?”
“Outside your window.”
“In the air? Are you on a ladder? I don’t see anyone.”
“I’m something you don’t think exists. Are you ready to see?”
“I don’t know!”
“You have to be brave. You can’t cry out or wake anyone up, or I’ll have to go away. Promise you won’t yell or shout or scream.”
Well, she didn’t scream. But if I’d thought my eyes were big! Lily stood and stared.
She took me in – all of me, section by section. She looked up at my long-snouted head, with the large lipped nostrils gently wheezing smoke faintly fragrant of burning wood, and for a moment her gentle brown eyes locked with my huge fiercely blazing eyes.
For a moment I thought she wasn’t breathing, that I’d petrified her. But then her breath returned with a gasp.
“You’re a dragon!” she whispered excitedly.
“Right you are.”
“You’re... you’re my dragon. The one I drew.”
“Right again, I think, though that’s really remarkable.”
“But you’re small – no bigger than a man. Are you a baby dragon?”
“No, no, I’m quite grown up and quite large. I’ve just scaled myself down to be able to romp about your world and fit into your room.”
“You’re going to come into my room?”
“Well, I was hoping you’d invite me in.”
“But my room’s a mess!”
“Uh...” was all I could say.
But then Lily put a hand over her mouth to cover a laugh. “Oh my god, did I really say that? There’s a dragon at my window who wants to come in, and I’m thinking I need to clean my room! My mom would be so proud.”
And with that, the tension between us was gone. She sat calmly on the edge of her bed, as if she would spend hours just marveling at a dragon hovering outside her window. That made me feel magnificent. For the first time since I’d fled Dragondrop, I thought there was a chance things would turn out all right.
Message from the Head Editor of Dragon Drop:
The dragon is a creature of legends, of myths. In many ways, the writer is also a mythical creature--someone who can be larger than life, lovable, awe-inspiring.
Musa Publishgin is terribly sad to share the circumstances of Jerry Ackerman's passing. But we are truly honored and proud to share his beautiful book, Dragon Drop, with our readers. Jerry's family has become family to us throughout the process of bringing this book to publication. We celebrate the release of Jerry's book with them.
To the family and friends of Jerry Ackerman: we hope you feel lifted up in love for Jerry through the publication of his precious words.
To our readers: Thank you for sharing Dragon Drop with us. We hope you love it as much as we do.
Buy a copy of Dragon Drop from Musa Publishing here.
3 comments:
What a wonderful idea for a story and beautiful tribute to the love of a father for his daughter. It makes me proud to be part of Musa. My best wishes for many young imaginations to discover it.
Wonderful tribute to a man who loves his family, and who was brave enough to share his imagination with the rest of the world. Cheers, Jerry! You rock!
I am thrilled to share this book with my son, and I am sorry for Jerry's family that they must mourn and celebrate on the same day. God bless you all. Thank you for sharing Jerry's talent with us. We are blessed to have his book.
Post a Comment