SOLVED. Youth Book Series - 2004-2010 [s]

[Grayson]

I read this book somewhere between 2004 and 2006, but the series continued onward for another 3+ books I believe.
Book 1 SPOILERS ********************************
Young man, not human some other race, with long name shortened. His family is made of shipwrights ( shipbuilders) and as one of the youngest he is going somewhere. The ship he is travelling on is wrecked by pirates and set aflame. He survives somehow and is clinging to ship wreckage. He sees albatross in sky, notes long wingspan and how they represent luck. Sailors pick him up and rescue him, all noticing the albatross and how it followed him wherever he went like a guardian. He recovers and soon the new ship reaches an island where if you say something it will make its way to your family or beloved or something. He then goes on his way and travels. All I can remember at this point.

Other Book Spoilers *************
One of the book covers has a purple cover with a dragon wrapped around either a landscape or island. The young man travels and encounters a dragon who hoards knowledge and recognizes the man is not a human. They share stories and go about their ways.

Any help would be appreciated. It hurts my brain trying to think about it.
Thanks and good day!

[Marilyn]

I haven't read them myself, but Google led me to "The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme" series by Elizabeth Haydon. The first book, The Floating Island, sounds like the one you're describing:

[Grayson]

Thank you so much. Just what I was looking for.

[Marilyn]

Glad I could help. :)
Happy re-reading!