Frankie recommends... A Language of Dragons - S. F. Williamson

Frankie says... The perfect book to get you out of a reading slump! Brilliantly paced, fabulous characters and overt anti-establishment political leanings - what more could you want from an angsty YA fantasy!? I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Viv, a surprisingly well-crafted, emotionally nuanced character thrust into the midst of government propaganda, who - faults and all - represented a realistic, compassionate girl who just wanted the best for her family. The perfect 'alternative history' for teens and adults alike. The next book, A War of Wyverns, is already out so you don't have to wait long after that ending... 

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EVERY FIRE STARTS WITH A SINGLE SPARK. Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons. 

London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war. With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it.

Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die. At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must decide: What war is she really fighting?