I got to visit Seattle, Washington for the first time this summer! My friend Jen was nice enough to let me stowaway in her satchel. We did a lot of exploring, spent a day reading in the sand by the water, and she took me to three different bookstores! It was so much fun getting to crawl around the shelves and see all the different covers.

While we were at one of the stores, I uncovered a fantastic purple and blue book with a gold-foil title. It’s called Dragon’s Green.

Dragon’s Green was written by Scarlet Thomas and published in May 2017. It’s the first book in the Worldquake series. The  cover art shows three children, some floating books, and the outline of a dragon. Of course, I had to read it to find out if there really was a dragon in the story. (Hint: There is, but he isn’t anything like me.)

Dragon’s Green takes place in an Earth that’s been turned upside down by a Worldquake. The only technology that still works is from the early 1990s. Imagine. No iPhones. No Facebook. No Snap Chat! Scary, huh? Don’t worry though, they still have walkie-talkies and old-school telephones.

Effie Truelove, the true hero of the book, attends a special school for “the gifted, troubled, and strange.” Effie believes in magic, but is forbidden from being taught anything about it by her father, who has been quite different ever since her mother disappeared in the Worldquake years before. After her grandfather becomes mysteriously ill, she is tasked with a quest to find Dragon’s Green and rescue her grandfather’s library of rare and powerful books from the treacherous book-eater Leonard Levar. In order to succeed in her mission, Effie will need all the help she can get from her classmates Maximillian, Wolf, and Raven.

I really like this book because it was written differently than most other stories these days. The storytelling reminded me a lot of some of my other favorites: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach.

One of my favorite things about this book is that there are stories within stories. Not only is it possible to travel from our world into the Otherworld (where all magic lives), but Effie discovers certain kinds of readers can enter into certain types of books and live out the stories (which is where the dragon comes into the tale).

My other favorite thing is that the book didn’t end the way I thought it was going to. It ended so much better! For a reader, that’s the best treasure in the world.

Dragon’s Green is 369 pages long and is written with readers between the ages of 9 and 12 in mind. There are a couple of parts that might be a little scary for some readers, so mom and dad might want to read this book first.

In fact, I think they should read it no matter what! This is the type of story that would be really fun to read out loud as an entire family. Bonus, it gives everyone in the family a chance to have something to talk about every night!

Like many fantasy tales, Dragon’s Green includes elements of light and dark magic. It also focuses on the importance of friendship. This story has a lot of imagination and tons of heart. If I had a time machine, I would fly it into the future to get the next book because I can’t wait to see what happens next!

I give Dragon’s Green 4.5 out of 5 dark chocolate eggs. You can find it at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and on iBooks. You can also have your parents check with your local independent bookstore or library!

Hmmm… I wonder what book I should read next?

—Wambi

Note: No goods or services were exchanged for this review. The thoughts and opinions are solely the author’s.