Sign of the Green Dragon by C. Lee McKenzie {Review}

Sign of the Green Dragon by C. Lee McKenzie

Paperback

Published August 3rd 2016 by CreateSpace Edition 

 

 

Three plucky sleuths. A crumbling skeleton. A buried treasure.

After six months in a new school, Sam’s finally fitting in. He’s the one kid with enough talent to hit the winning home run and bring the baseball trophy back to Haggarty Elementary. But Sam’s guardian is shipping him off to boarding school before that can happen.

When teammates, Joey and Roger, hear his bad news, they plot to hide him until the big game. Their secret cave is a perfect place until an earthquake shatters a wall and reveals a wooden chest with a red-eyed dragon carved into its top. Inside, a bony hand clutches a map with a note, promising treasure.

With Joey and Roger, Sam sets off to track down the clues and hopefully discover treasure. When some puzzle pieces start to make sense, the boys become lost in a labyrinth of underground tunnels, trapped by dangerous thieves and sealed inside an airless tomb.

Sign of the Green Dragon gets a high five for fantasy, fun and some fearsome adventure. If you like intrepid would-be knights on impossible and dangerous quests, you’ll love this story. As one reader says, this book, “has more twists than a dragon’s tail.”

Order now to jump into the adventure.

 

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My Review: 4 Stars

 

Three boys find themselves thrust into the adventure of their lives when they discover a wooden chest with a secret map inside. Sam, Joey, and Roger put together a plan to follow this map to find clues and more, but they don't expect the danger that trails them around every corner. 

 

I read this aloud with one of my sons and he really enjoyed tagging along on this adventure. There are quite a few twists and turns that catch a reader off guard. It's later revealed that these boys are around 11 years old. I have a daughter who is 11 and I can't imagine her and her friends embarking on something as crazy as this escapade at this age, but it's very fun to pretend and imagine. That's one this book is really good at--sparking imagination and drawing the reader into the experience. It's easy to put yourself in place of one of the characters.

 

The book wraps up, but there is an open end, leaving a small window in the plot for another story to come through in the future. This is a fun fantasy adventure that most middle grade readers will enjoy. 

Content: some perilous situations

*I received a copy from the author, which did not influence my thoughts in any way. All opinions are my own.*

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About the Author:

  

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In my other life--the one before I began writing for teens and younger readers--I was a teacher and administrator at California State University, San Jose. My field of Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication has carried me to a lot of places in the world to explore different cultures and languages. I can say, “Where’s the toilet?” and “I’m lost!” in at least five languages and two dialects. Go ahead. Pat me on the back.

My idea of a perfect day is one or all of the following: starting a new novel, finishing writing a blockbuster novel, hiking on a misty morning trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains, saying Namaste after a great yoga practice, sipping a cappuccino topped at a bustling café, reading in front of a fire with snow outside, swimming in an ocean someplace.

I've just set out my perfect life. Day after day after day.