Happy Wednesday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for NEW DRAGON CITY! I’m so excited because today I have an interview with Mari Mancusi to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I’m so excited to for you to find out more about it!
New Dragon City by Mari Mancusi Published on October 4, 2022 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Pages: 352
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok
No one predicted the dragon apocalypse. The dragons came suddenly and decimated the world as we knew it, including New York City. Now, three years later, Noah, his hardcore survivalist father, and a ragtag group of survivors are barely scraping by in this new reality. Kids scavenge not only for materials in abandoned homes but also for leftover books at the library. Adults spend their time establishing a make-shift society and defending their shelter... with any means available. At least for the few months the dragons are hibernating, until it’s no longer safe aboveground.
Noah has seen the damage these creatures can do firsthand. When it comes to dragons: It's kill or be killed. But a chance encounter between Noah and a young dragon causes him to question everything he thought he knew. With rumors spreading that there’s a group of survivors living in harmony with dragons instead of hiding underground, Noah teams up with his fire-breathing ally to find out if peace between humans and dragons is really possible. But the division runs deeper than scales versus skin because trying to follow his heart might just cost Noah his family too. If Noah and his father can’t see eye to eye, can he really get humans and dragons to?
What would you do if you spent the day with Noah? Where would you go to eat, hang out, relax, etc.?
I think it’d be fun to ride dragons around NYC with Noah! We’d definitely get a unique view of the city on dragon-back! Then we could have a picnic in Central Park.
If Noah were to hang out with other fictional characters, who would they be and why?
He’d probably love to hang out with Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. They both had a similar experience of befriending dragons against their families’ wishes. I think Toothless would become friends with Noah’s dragon Asha as well.
If there was one fictional place you could travel to for a day, where would it be and why?
To keep on the dragon theme, I would love to travel to Anne McCaffrey’s world of Pern and ride dragons and time travel with the people there. It’s such a fascinating world!
If you buried a time capsule with three items inside, what three items would you choose and why?
I feel like with today’s technology, our entire lives are being time-capsuled already online. But I’d probably put in one of my books, a pair of Disney mouse ears, and the recipe to my dad’s baked apple pancakes.
What was your favorite bit of research you ended up not using?
I actually did use this, but I found it fascinating to research how “cultured meat” is created. It’s actual real meat, but grown in a lab, without slaughtering any animals. Google it – it’s fascinating what they can do!
What is your favorite quote, scene, or moment from New Dragon City?
My favorite quote is,
“No one predicted the dragon apocalypse.”
It’s really the sentence that got me started writing the book. We were in the middle of the pandemic lockdown at the time and so I was thinking a lot about what a more interesting apocalypse might look like than the one we were in. (Not that I want dragons to burn down the world, mind you!)
About Mari Mancusi
Mari Mancusi is a former Emmy award winning TV producer and author of more than two dozen sci-fi/fantasy books for kids, teens and adults including Gamer Girl, the Scorched series, The Blood Coven Vampires, and her newest series, The Camelot Code: The Once and Future Geek, published by Disney Books.
Her bestselling series have been chosen as featured selections in the Scholastic Book Fairs and clubs and have been selected by the American Library Association as “Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers” and “Popular Paperbacks.” In addition to writing, Mari is an avid cosplayer, horror aficionado, and MMORPG gamer. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their young daughter.
What do you think about New Dragon City? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
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