The Fire Within, by Chris D'Lacey

When David is scouring the newspaper for a place to live while attending college, one catches his eye that seems just right, stating that one must be good with animals. Dogs and cats are nice, "why not," he thinks. Little did he know that he would be dealing with dragons!

The Pennykettles, Liz and her daughter Lucy, are eccentric to say the least. Liz spends her days making clay dragons while Lucy spends hers chasing after an injured squirrel. David is soon wrangled into the search and inspired to write a story about a squirrel named Snigger. Meanwhile, he's becoming more closely acquainted with the dragons of the house; especially the one that has a penchant for stories, named Gadzooks.

Oddly enough, their real lives begin to look a lot like the David's story and the lines between reality and imagination begin to blur as David's learning goes beyond his college work and into the fantasy land of dragons.

I've wanted to read The Fire Within series for a while, now, since I see the kids check it out year after year. I'm not sure that I'll make it through all seven any time soon, but I can now recommend it from first-hand-experience rather than the fact that it's popular. D'Lacey makes what could possibly be a very silly story about clay dragons into an endearing quest bouncing between this world and those only imagined.