The Hatchling  Suzanne Main        

 

The Hatchling Suzanne Main         

Dogbox Press, Auckland (2025)
Young novel,
Paperback, 201 pages
ISBN 978 0 473 74948 4  

 

Willow and Hunter are twins who live with their grandfather in the coastal village of Seaview. From near their home, an archipelago, a chain of several hundred islands, reaches far out into the ocean.

‘It was one place Willow had vowed never to go.’

Willow is an eager star-gazer and map enthusiast, so it is a mystery why she shuns the Conundrum Isles. Even more mysterious are the strange noises from the locked attic, but their increasingly forgetful grandfather can’t find the key. An ex-sailor, he is so absent-minded that he even forgets the twins’ birthday. Does he have Alzheimer’s disease?

When the twins finally manage to get into the attic, they discover that a large egg has hatched. The creature which emerges has blue-green scales and stubby wings which makes Hunter think of a baby dragon.

‘Do dragons hatch from eggs?’

‘In st-stories they do.’ (Bullied at school, Hunter stutters when nervous.) 

Willow feels a mental bond with the creature, which they name Monty. She can tell when Monty is hungry. There are some amusing moments as the twins sort out Monty’s feeding and toilet arrangements, while Monty sorts out learning to fly. Hunter is worried that Monty may also have sorted out the neighbour’s cat. Another worry is the possibility of Grandpa being put in a nursing home. Will the Family Service put the twins into foster care?

At this moment of domestic crisis, Monty makes a brief but dramatic appearance on the evening TV News, causing neighbourhood panic. Then a mysterious, but strangely familiar old woman makes a surprising entrance into the twins’ lives and everything changes.

Suzanne Main keeps her narrative rolling along, with oily villains, high-speed chases and plenty of surprises, even if there is a bit too much telling and not quite enough showing.

Holly makes a resourceful heroine and there is even a movie joke which young readers will appreciate.

This is an ideal story for any child who has ever wanted a pet dragon.

The intriguingly mysterious cover illustration is by Jenny Cooper.

 

Trevor Agnew 

28 August 2025 

[Review 3791]