The Dragon's Eye by Kaza Kingsley

Main Character: Erec Rex
Location:
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: Fantasy, Dragons
Series: Erec Rex #1

A 12-year-old boy in foster care is thrust into an exciting and dangerous adventure when his mom disappears. It turns out that (unbeknownst to him) Erec comes from an underground world where humans are still in touch with their magical sides.

It is inevitable that any book of this type will be compared to Harry Potter, and there are some parallels--Erec gets involved in a series of contests to choose the next kings and queens of the land; there is a horrible little bully and his followers; one of King Piter's AdviSeers is a stern man that Erec assumes (without any real proof) is the villain orchestrating the strange accidents. But these similarities are not necessarily signs that the author is copying the Harry Potter formula--rather that Harry Potter used many of the same fantasy archetypes. Where this book falters is in creating this magical world, which never comes to life in the way that Hogwarts did. It is more akin to the Charlie Bone books by Jenny Nimmo--pleasant enough to want to read the next volume, but not likely to excite to massive fandom.