The Last Ember by Lily Berlin Dodd

Aerimanders are extinct.

Or so the government would have you think, having centuries earlier destroyed the last of these deadly, dragon-like creatures.

So when wealthy twelve-year-old chemistry student Eva Alexander unwittingly purchases an aerimander egg, she becomes the target of the Thieves’ Union and its newest member, thirteen-year-old orphan Dusty St. Ichabod.

But Eva is no easy mark, and soon she and Dusty are driven into a maze of sinister threats, betrayals and surprises – all while fighting to keep the egg away from power-hungry hands.

As the unlikely duo races against time, their fates – and that of the whole world – are at stake. Because there’s one question no one dares to ask: What happens when the egg hatches?

Impossible Creatures meets The Mysterious Benedict Society in this epic, fast-paced upper-middle grade fantasy full of majestic creatures, heroic hijinks, battle-forged friendships, and sharp humour.

Impossible Creatures meets The Mysterious Benedict Society in this epic, fast-paced upper-middle grade fantasy full of dragon-like creatures, heroic hijinks, battle-forged friendships, and sharp humour.

About the Author: Lily Dodd is a California-born, Brooklyn-based writer. In 2022, she graduated from Yale University, where she was a recipient of the Theron Rockwell Field Prize. Her previously published work includes Search and Rescue, a novella produced for Audible. When not writing, she works in education, including with the literary nonprofit Writers and Artists Across the Country, which sends children’s and YA authors and illustrators to under-resourced schools. The Last Ember is her debut novel.

28 Oct 2025
 

The Last Ember: Volume 1 by Lily Berlin Dodd ISBN 9781761217234