A DISCOVERY OF DRAGONS

Eleven-year-old Syms Covington is the ship’s fiddler and naturalist Charles Darwin’s assistant as they voyage on the HMS Beagle.

Their journey takes them to the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin finds evidence that leads to his theory of natural selection. While all the characters in the story are based on real people, Galvin spins this historical foundation into an imagined adventure. Rowing back to the Beagle after collecting specimens, Darwin is tossed overboard by a sudden storm. Syms jumps in to save him but is swept away, washing up on another one of the Galápagos Islands, half drowned, with no supplies, and surrounded by empty ocean. Six adventure-filled days later, in which, among other things, Syms is befriended by an intelligent lizard he dubs Farthing and survives a volcanic eruption, he is rescued by the crew of the Beagle. But now Syms has a secret that he tells only Darwin—who doesn’t believe him—and as events transpire, Syms must choose between loyalty to his employer or his principles. Originally released in the United Kingdom as Darwin’s Dragons (2021) with a much more original and appealing cover that better reflects the contents, this terrific novel effectively uses history as a backdrop for both entertaining readers and posing questions about science and society. Characters are cued as White.

A rip-roaring adventure exploring themes of friendship, loyalty, and bravery.