Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace

by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi

Book Overview

A teen girl discovers she can change into a dragon in the terrific new novel from USA Today bestselling author Davidson and her husband. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425205983
• ISBN13: 9780425205983
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
• Length: 259 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 7.2"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

Fun Quick Read

MaryJanice Davidson wrote three great light-and-fun vampire books... and then several more that were pretty bad, more like disjointed half-hour sitcoms than actual novels with character development and interaction. So I went into Jennifer Scales with very low expectations. This is clearly a book aimed at teenagers, but it's a good read. A very quick read, but it is fun, it has great character and situation exploration, some surprises and some very funny situations. A great way to pass a quiet evening. More like the early Queen Betsy books than the later ones.

Great new YA series

I loved it. Jennifer is a character that so many of us can relate to....even before she turns into a dragon. The dialogue is great and the characters are very real, something I like in my fantasy reads. I have a hard time relating to perfect and noble characters. I want my characters to have bad moods and hissy fits. Thanks to Ms. Davidson and Mr. Alongi for a great new addition to my classroom library.

This book would make an excellent children's movie

SERIOUSLY!!! I found this book by accident. I read some of Mary Janice Davidson's adult books, but I never expected to find one in the young adult section. I will definitely re-read this book, but first, I have to get it back from the person to whom I loaned it!!! I can't wait for the next book!!! If you like the Dragons in Our Midst series by Bryan Davis, you will love this book. Both start out with a similar premise: a teenager discovers that their dad is a dragon, making him (in this case "her") a halfling. Jennifer, our heroine, begins to notice that something's wrong after she makes a game-saving kick during a school soccer game. At first, she assumes that everyone can jump, flip, and kick the winning score; however, she quickly learns otherwise when she finds out that her friends now think that she's on drugs. When Jennifer actually turns into a dragon, she has to learn a whole new way of life, beginning with how to walk. Once she learns the basics and goes to dragon school, she becomes much more comfortable in her dragon skin. After she becoming somewhat competent, she participates in a brief successful quest and, with a little help, saves the day. However, the story wasn't that simple. In order to function in the world, Jennifer had to quickly learn to accept who she is and come to terms with her parents. In REAL life, this doesn't happen until about age 22. While Jennifer struggles to accept herself and her parents, she also has to deal with others' perceptions of her. By the end of the book, she finds out that, while she is miraculous and beautiful to some people, she is cursed and hideous to those she least expects. Jennifer faces betrayal and prejudice from some of her "friends" while she works to save her family. In the end, she discovers that HER perceptions of other people aren't always correct. After all, she didn't notice that her mom was a superhero, and she never knew that her grandfather was a bigot.

fabulous new young adult team

This is a wonderful book! The story line is entertaining and well thought out. The characters are interesting and well developed but most of all it's a fun read. Mary Janice Davidson is primarily known for her paranormal romance books (none of which you'd let your teenager read...well you shouldn't let your teenager read. I guess I can't speak for everyone.)This book has all of her strengths (humor and realistic dialogue)with none of her weaknesses (little or no description and an abrupt ending). Perhaps this is the influence of Anthony Alongi. The story reads nothing like anything Ms Davidson would have written on her own and the reader definitely benefits from Mr. Alongi's contributions to the book. They have captured what it is like to be a teenager dealing with parents during a difficult time of your life. The teens act like teens and the parents act like parents. You can see and understand everyone's point of view. Often when writing for teens the parents are made out to be ogre's or so incredibly detached from their kids lives that you can't imagine having parents like that or being a parent like that. These are real people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. It's witty, creative, well thought out fantasy. I can't wait until the next in the series comes out. YES! It's the 1st of what I hope is a long long series. The world deserves more fantasy written for intelligent teens that treats them like intelligent teens.

Didn't have to read it to love it!

I bought this book for my daughter, who is in middle school. She chose to read it for one of our frequent "sit under a shade tree and read" sessions. I can't remember what book I picked, because I didn't get to read it. Roughly every two minutes, my daughter would interrupt our normally quiet time with, "Oh, you gotta hear this..." before long, I put aside my book and just listened. She enjoyed the book so much that she couldn't keep it to herself, she simply had to share it.