Sarah can't talk properly, but she's great at listening, and inanimate objects happily talk to her. When budget cuts force her mental institution to kick her out, she falls in with a society of street people modelled after Kipling's tales of Mowgli. It soon becomes apparent that the mental institution wants Sarah back for Sinister Purposes, and Sarah spends most of the book hiding from corporate goons with the help of her new friends and her talking toy dragon.

Brother To Dragons, Companion To Owls has all the trappings of a cyberpunk novel: certifiably insane characters, a ruthless society of street refugees, Evil Corporate Conspiracies, and bizarre methods of code-breaking. But Sarah's viewpoint gives it a fairy- tale atmosphere that prevents it from becoming grim or sordid, and the running commentary from her dragon is lighthearted and amusing. (Although the dragon(s) have the most poignant moment in the book, IMHO.)

Brother To Dragons, Companion To Owls didn't strike me as particularly plausible; it pegged my "Yeah, right," meter a few times. But it's a very enjoyable read, full of memorable characters. I recommend it.