El's comments

El's comments from the What's The Name of That Book??? group.

Note: El is no longer a member of this group.

My comment here is really probably not that helpful, but when I was in the sixth grade (we're talking '89/'90 here) I remember picking up a book a few times at the library that sort of sounds like this - I don't remember the word Dragon being in the title, and all I really remember is the boy read a book about an Arctic or Antarctic adventure... maybe he was reading a book about Cook? Does this part sound familiar? If I have that to run with I might be able to narrow it down to a definitive title.

I also remember the cover (which of course may have changed over the years) had a boy sitting in a chair with an open book. Totally vague, yeah, but it's been almost 20 years! :)

April Ann wrote: "A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin? Has this one been mentioned yet?
Book 1 was published 1991, but 2 and 3 were published in the 70's. The Tombs of Atuan and then The Farthest Shore."

April Ann, you yourself suggested A Wizard of Earthsea just three days ago. :)

Yay, you're welcome!

Andalee, is it The Land of the Silver Apples by Nancy Farmer?

Summary:
Jack is amazed to have caused an earthquake. He is thirteen, after all, and only a bard-in-training. But his sister, Lucy, has been stolen by the Lady of the Lake; stolen a second time in her young life, as he learns to his terror. Caught between belief in the old gods and Christianity (790 AD, Britain), Jack calls upon his ash wood staff to subdue a passel of unruly monks, and, for his daring, ends up in a knucker hole. It is unforgettable -- for the boy and for readers -- as are the magical reappearance of the berserker Thorgil from a burial by moss; new characters Pega, a slave girl from Jack's village, and the eager-to-marry-her Bugaboo (a hobgoblin king); kelpies; yarthkins; and elves (not the enchanted sprites one would expect but the fallen angels of legend). Rarely does a sequel enlarge so brilliantly the world of the first story.

How about Timelike Infinity by Stephen Baxter?

Congratulations!

Mel, how about Rain, Kirsty Gunn?

Samantha, how about Wuthering High A Bard Academy Novel by Cara Lockwood?

Anna, how about Patricia Wrede? She wrote the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, though they seem to be more dragon-heavy than involving witches and only a couple of them were published before '85.

Rachel, is it Brothers by Ted van Leishout?

You might also check this link to see if you see it listed here. You might find another title that interests you also.