The Crouching Dragon [Hardcover]

"...interesting and compelling..."

Grade 7-9-In 1959, William Montreux, 14, lives with his mother and abusive father in Bonville, France, near the site of the Normandy invasion in 1944. On the hill above the village is a rundown castle known as the "Crouching Dragon." On occasion, unusual sounds and smoke come from it. Willi is drawn to the mysterious structure and eventually meets its reclusive resident, Roger Guiscard. From him, the teen learns that his mother and Guiscard worked for the French resistance during the war. Other students are drawn to the castle and embark on a restoration project that includes displaying collections of World War II weapons as well as medieval spears, swords, and armor held within. Simultaneously there is a cattle-rustling operation in the area and the mayor blames Willi for the missing animals. Although the novel is interesting and compelling, it has some flaws. The fact that Charles de Gaulle, who is in the area to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Normandy, mediates the problem between the town's people and the students over the future of the castle is too convenient and unbelievable. This story has elements of realistic fiction, historical fiction, and mystery, and, basically, it's all too much for one novel.
Debbie Feulner, Northwest Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Set in 1959 in a small French coastal town, this first book in the Will to Conquer series is an unusual, intriguing adventure tale, with a touch of fantasy gaming. William Montreux, 14, is irresistibly drawn to the forbidden, crumbling castle, named the Crouching Dragon, that looms "menacingly over the town from its rocky perch." His uneasy relationship with his father, Paul, is exacerbated by Paul's drunken rages and William's fears that his rumored illegitimacy is true. When William's persistence gains him entrance into the castle, he is enthralled and greatly intrigued by its mysterious resident, who, it turns out, knew William's mother during the French Resistance. Eventually a group of teens secretly helps to renovate the castle's interior, learning a good deal of history in the process and creating a fantasy medieval kingdom within, complete with costumes, weapons, and jousting. Also involved are cattle stealing, a crooked town mayor, and the truth behind the murder of the castle's last owner. The stand-off between the teens barricaded within the castle and the townsfolk, which is only straightened out by a visit from President Charles de Gaulle, provides a suspense-laden conclusion. Sally Estes

"...This series opener blends fantasy with history in a tale of youthful idealism...." -- Library Journal, September 15, 1999

"...amazingly interesting...so much fun to read, [kids] will not realize they also are absorbing lessons in honor and integrity." -- Knoxville News Sentinel, July 11, 2000

"...enormously entertaining for young readers ages 12-18...." -- Children's Bookwatch, October, 1999

"THE CROUCHING DRAGON wins 2000 Benjamin Franklin Award for Young Adult Fiction." -- PMA Newsletter, July, 2000

Fourteen-year-old William does not have the easiest home life, with a hard fisted, hard drinking father, but unbeknownst to the family, he does have fascinating adventures in a secret world he created with his friends.

Through the writer's eye for detail, we share a glimpse of William's life in the early postwar days in Bonville, France in the late 1950's. One intriguing landmark in William's home town...is an abandoned castle not far from the invasion beaches of World War II and the reader cannot help but be ushered by vivid word pictures into this dank, foreboding architectural embattlement.

It is in the very bowels of this eerie and mysterious castle that William and his school colleagues embark on a thrilling adventure with endless crisscrossing secrets and plots that are revealed in a spooky, haunting manner.

The Crouching Dragon's intriguing plot is a suspenseful maze with more surprise twists and characters than any reader might suspect. Lamensdorf has successfully captured the essence of William's youthful confidence and will to achieve in the most entertaining way. -- Fred Wolf, Academy Award and multiple Emmy winning filmmaker, famous for Puff, The Magic Dragon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Zorro

New and Notable - The Crouching Dragon, by Len Lamensdorf...tells of the exploits of a 14-year-old boy growing up in a small French town in Normandy. The time is 1959 as William (Willi) tries to escape the tyrannical abuse from the man he calls his father. His parentage is uncertain as the small town gossips and their offspring question his legitimacy. They also avoid his warm and loving mother. Willi and several of his classmates are haunted by the decaying castle that looms over the town. A relic from the past, the castle [looks like] a dragon, which fuels their fantasies about the days of knights and armor. One night Willi gets into the building only to discover [a man] who ultimately teaches Willi and friends the truth about the castle's history and how World War II affected the townspeople. He also learns that his mother was a heroine in the Resistance, who aided American efforts. The youngsters soon find that past history may have something to do with a current series of mysterious disappearances. -- Santa Barbara News-Press (A New York Times Newspaper), October 3, 1999

The Crouching Dragon is a rollicking adventure story that blends fact with fantasy, ancient history with modern events, romance and rivalry, treachery and honor. William and his friends Louise and Andre join up with a group of French teenagers to commandeer an ancient castle and confront the challenge of their lives -- with a little assistance from the French president Charles de Gaulle! The Crouching Dragon is the first of Len Lamensdorf's "Will to Conquer" series and is an enormously entertaining debut novel for young readers ages 12-18. -- The Oklahoma Eagle, August 26, 1999

How can William ignore the Dragon? It calls to him at night with its flashing eyes and its thundering voice. In 1959 there are no dragons or knights; yet like the pied piper's flute, William, and his friends, Louise and Andre, and a steadily increasing number of village teens are drawn to the ancient castle walls to discover secrets hidden by time and the village whisperers.

Still scarred by World War II and Nazi occupation, the Normandy village of Bonville opens its rich heritage to the half-fantasy tale of young knights and their ladies who challenge [a] criminal cartel. Undaunted by abusive parents, the school principal and the corrupt, evil mayor, the teens look to President Charles de Gaulle for help.

The knightly treasures uncovered within the Dragon's Tail and the complex maze of tunnels hidden from the Nazis by the French Resistance are nothing compared to the treasures of self-worth, friendship and loyalty that William and his friends discover through the teaching of their mentor and king--professor Roger Guiscard--who has secrets of his own.

The CrouchingDragon is book one of the series Will to Conquer by Len Lamensdorf. In book two, William and Louise find themselves in the middle of the student and civil rights struggles of the tumultuous 60's.

William, known as the Bastard, sailed from these same Normandy shores in 1066 and became famous and honored as William the Conqueror. Now the author, Len Lamensdorf, tells the story of another William from Normandy, who --fearful that he, too, may be a bastard--lives a dreary parochial life while dreaming of knights and heros. THE CROUCHING DRAGON tells his story as he grows from a frightened youngster into a confident and accomplished young man, helped by the lovely Louise, steadfast Andr, and a strange man--a one time college professor and former resistance fighter--who lives in the mysterious castle and roams the countryside. Steven Spielberg's Academy award winning movie, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, shows us the agonies, tragedies and triumphs of the American soldiers who landed on the Normandy beaches below the castle and William's home town. THE CROUCHING DRAGON tells the story of what happens after the soldiers go home.

On one of many trips to France, I visited Normandy and the World War II invasion beaches. Standing in a cemetery where thousands of American soldiers are buried --very near the town where William lives in THE CROUCHING DRAGON--I was deeply moved. Then and there I decided to tell the story from another viewpoint, that of a French teenager whose family and friends--and enemies--had multiple ties to this fascinating area and the battles that arose or originated there, across many centuries. Most of the historical background and geographical description in the book is true, and it my great hope that the story is true as well--in the very real sense that a work of fiction may be true.

Len Lamensdorf pursued successful careers as attorney, realtor, stockbroker and investor-developer before turning his attention to writing. A multi-published author with novels, a feature film, and a full-length play to his credit, Lamensdorf draws on his extensive travel experience to create realistic settings for his works. His assertion that, "after writing, travel is my favorite occupation," is evidenced in the vivid word-pictures he paints of the French countryside in The Crouching Dragon. Readers can enjoy the benefits of Lamensdorf's onsite research in his novel Gino and the Countess -- an intriguing story of a young Italian artist (famed as much for his lovemaking as his painting), Chagall, and fresco painting, set in the historic European art centers of Florence and Paris.