GOLD MEDAL, BEST FICTION, AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND-AOTEAROA/PACIFIC RIM 2024 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARDS (IPPYS). 

From Jenni Ogden, author of multiple-award-winning 'A Drop in the Ocean', comes another evocative story of friendship, coral reefs, and marine conservation for book-club readers.

It is the late 1970s and teenagers Gaia and her brother Bron live with their parents on their isolated property on Western Australia’s Coral Coast. Intensively trained for a career as a professional ballet dancer by her mother, once a Principal Dancer in the American Ballet Theatre, Gaia also loves snorkeling over the coral reef that borders their small market garden. Then comes a day that changes her life forever: she discovers a rare pair of dramatically colored seadragons, their courtship dance over the coral spellbinding, and that night she loses her entire family and her dancing dream. Two years later she returns to the abandoned property, determined to live off the land. For years her only friends are the wild animals of the bush and reef, and Mary and Eddie, an Aboriginal couple who work for the racist farmer on the neighboring property — until one morning Jarrah, Mary’s 11-year-old orphaned nephew, is entranced when he sees Gaia dancing on the beach. As an unlikely friendship between these two lonely and scarred people deepens, they discover that when you lose everything the only way to survive is to open your heart.

[Scroll to the end of this book page for a link to a short Youtube video of weedy seadragons dancing!]

Advance Praise:

'Dancing with Dragons' reminds us of the power of friendship and the healing potential the natural world offers us. Jenni Ogden takes us to the beaches and coral reefs of Australia to tell this life-affirming story that calls us to open our hearts, even—or especially—when it’s hardest to do.”     —Ann Hood, New York Times best-selling author of 'The Book that Matters Most' and 'The Stolen Child '

Ogden crafts an inventive and vivid narrative that is beautifully told [with] a lightly poetic writing style that particularly comes alive when describing Gaia's dancing and the wildlife of Western Australia. Gaia is an immensely appealing protagonist who begins her story as a skittish loner and displays clear development throughout the novel. Ogden effectively weaves together two primary plots: Gaia's return to life after tragedy, and her quest to save her family's land from developers. Both aspects are finely executed and equally intriguing without feeling disparate. —The BookLife Prize

Jenni Ogden’s ‘Dancing With Dragons’ is a beautifully crafted tale set in the late 1970s on Western Australia’s Coral Coast, where teenagers Gaia and her brother Bron live a secluded life with their parents. [The author] masterfully captures the emotional depth of Gaia’s journey from loss and isolation to healing and connection. The character development is rich and nuanced, particularly in Gaia’s transition from a traumatized teenager to a resilient young woman finding solace in nature and new relationships. The bond between Gaia and Jarrah is depicted with sensitivity and authenticity, showing how two scarred individuals can find strength and hope in each other. The setting of the Coral Coast, with its vivid descriptions of the reef and bush, adds a lyrical quality to the narrative, drawing readers into the natural beauty that surrounds Gaia’s healing process. Fans of literary fiction will appreciate the eloquent prose, intricate character arcs, and the exploration of themes such as loss, resilience, and the transformative power of friendship. ‘Dancing With Dragons’ is a testament to the human spirit’s capacity to endure and flourish despite profound adversity, making it a deeply moving and inspiring read.—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

Escape into Gaia’s luminous world in this beautifully told story, where you’ll root for her through tragedy and danger, smile at the warmth and love of friends who become family, and be renewed by the healing magic of Gaia's unique home that connects her and us to her namesake, Mother Earth. —Sally Cole-Misch, author of 'The Best Part of Us',  2021 Canadian Book Club Award for Best Fiction of the Year, 15th Annual National Indies Excellence Juror's Choice Award  

'Dancing with Dragons' has some of the most gorgeous and vivid nature writing I’ve ever read. Ogden brings the coral reefs and coastal beauty of Australia to vivid life in this emotionally resonant and heartwarming story of her courageous young heroine Gaia as she strives to make a life and find her purpose after great loss. Themes of love and belonging, healing through nature, the threat of ecological destruction, and racism in the treatment of Aboriginal people are all handled with great delicacy. Readers will return to this novel over and over again to be immersed in and reminded of the peace and wonder to be found in the natural world. – Céline Keating, award-winning author of 'The Stark Beauty of Last Things''

'Dancing with Dragons' is a compelling story — both unique and universal, exotic yet grounded in the environment we all share. From the joyful beauty of dance to the brutality of human behavior, to the glory of underwater life, this page-turner of a novel embraces love, among people and all living creatures. The reader will learn new things and remember old truths within this finely crafted tale. —Romalyn Tilghman, author of 'To the Stars with Difficulty, 2018 Kansas Notable Book of the Year. 

‘Dancing with Dragons’ is a page-turner adventure story that kept me reading late into the night. *****  Set in the stunning coastal outback of Australia, ‘Dancing with Dragons’ is the story of a young ballet dancer orphaned after a family tragedy. Injured and cared for by the state until she’s old enough to live alone, Gaia returns to her family’s property. Once there, she feels the grief of her losses but is determined to stay put and make a life for herself. She creates a large vegetable garden, adopts a young kangaroo, befriends helpful neighbors, and dances on a beach near where rare sea dragons live and breed. Her life-affirming adventures continue when she begins to reach out to others, and they reach back.—J. A. Wright, award-winning author of ’How To Grow An Addict’ and ‘Eat And Get Gas’.