QUEST FOR THE TRUE DRAGON

A girl and a dragon are on the run from dark forces in this third series entry.

Grace, her three friends, and the young dragon, Nate, have obtained a dragon stone, one of four that can be used to wake the dragon kings. Lord Daijiang has collected the other three, and along with dangerous human accomplices and powerful dragons of smoke and shadow, he continues to twist magic and science to his own ends. Daijiang needs the stone—and Nate, whose blood will confer immortality. But Grace doesn’t plan to run; she wants to fight, and she searches for the sleeping dragon kings and a solution to their predicament. Daijiang is on the move, too, pursuing Grace and her friends out of Hong Kong and all the way to Japan. While the kids have just enough contact with adults to make the action believable, Grace and her friends remain independent and get into and out of all sorts of misadventures on their own. Through dealing with dark magic, dragons, and a first crush, the friends learn to handle challenging situations while relying on each other. As in earlier installments, the graphic novel features colorful, dynamic panels and a focus on friendship, even as Grace faces more mature problems and dangerous scenarios. Grace is Chinese and white, and her friends are a variety of ethnicities.

Magical and technological thrills with a wholesome heart.