City of Dragons #1: The Awakening Storm written by Jaimal Yogis, reviewed by Terry Wahrman

 

Summary:  Grace, who is Asian American, spent many hours with her father surfing and listening to all the folktales of his home town of Hong Kong.  It’s 3 years after Grace’s dad died of cancer and her mom remarried.  The family moves to Hong Kong to support her new stepdad at his high tech medical research job at Biotech.  On a school field trip she meets a fortune teller who gives her an egg that hatches into an extremely cute blue sea dragon.  Grace has special connections with dragons.  She can communicate to them telepathically.  Grace and her new school friends have to dodge men wanting to take her dragon for nefarious reasons. Grace learns about the ancient prophecy of world destruction.  If dragon blood is mixed with human blood, there will be war.  She teams up with her three friends to stop these men from starting a war and summoning the dragons.

Straight Talk for Librarians:  Dragon folklore is a part of many cultures and can be covered in school as part of a mythology unit.  Grace’s friends are uniquely diverse and have different talents that they bring to the group.  There is inter-fighting among them, and with that comes apologies.  (hint: a teachable moment)  They learn to work together through their differences and there are a few laugh out loud moments.  It’s an entertaining story for everyone.  Betrayal by her stepfather comes at a high cost.  Grace has her friends who will stand by her and they didn’t leave her when the steaks were high.   It did not leave off on a cliffhanger, but promises another future adventure in Paris. I look forward to more of Grace's adventures.  Highly recommended.