What if you thought you were becoming a dragon, scale by scale and claw by claw? That's Rozzie's problem after she meets a shadowy beast in a mountain cavern that claims it transformed her into a dragon. This drastic event catapults Rozzie into a fantastic, magical journey through the loneliness and resentment that has plagued her for a very long time. No longer can she avoid the fierce anger boiling inside her. It reveals itself instantly through her smoke and flame at the most inconvenient moments. As she struggles to control her temper, a delightful, eccentric neighbor becomes her ally, but it is the difficult people that she meets—a handsome, troubled boy and a ruthless, violent man—who help her unravel the angry knot inside as she learns the secret of being a dragon without burning her tongue.

Set in a remote town in Nevada, this coming-of-age story blends the power of a stark desert landscape with a young teen's fierce efforts to cope with a painful loss and a difficult new step-family. Through both humor and dramatic adventure, this tale captures the essence of the hero's journey in a modern, transformative way, one where the greatest challenges don't always come from beyond our own self.