Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
The Story:
At its heart, Eragon is a coming-of-age story. A fifteen-year-old farm boy discovers he’s destined to become a Dragon Rider, but the grown-up world of politics and war are a lot more than he bargained for.
One of the best things about this book is that the life lessons are so accurately portrayed. Even when they’re painful. Eragon argues passionately for his beliefs, standing up for his ideas of right and wrong, only to realize later, through his own experience, that things aren’t always so simple.
That’s part of growing up, with or without dragons.