Book excerpt: Embark on an epic, dragon-filled adventure where music has the power of enchantment in Book One of the Songs of Magic trilogy. Thirteen-year-old piper, Patch Brightwater, is a boy in disgrace. Thrown in jail for playing a forbidden spell, he is no one's idea of a hero. But then he discovers a deadly truth—the evil Piper responsible for the disappearance of human and dragon children is on the loose! With the help of Wren, a girl cursed to live as a rat, and Barver, a fire-breathing dracogriff, Patch must stop the Piper of Hamelyn from plunging the human and dragon worlds into utter war and chaos. S. A. Patrick's debut children's novel is a brilliant retelling of one of the darkest legends of all time, "The Piper of Hamelyn." Combining folklore with the very best of modern storytelling, A Darkening of Dragons will delight young fans of fantasy who are hungry for sprawling perilous quests, friendships forged on the road, and inventive magic systems to thrill the imagination.