Dragon Pearl

My granddaughter who lives 500 miles away, is a big book reader like me. During this pandemic we facetime frequently and look at books that I can order and send to her. I picked this one out for her while looking for another book in a series she was reading. I talked to her just last night and she was so excited! The book arrived last week as she was finishing another. She decided to start this one Monday and said, "Grandma! I couldn't put it down!! It was such a good book!! Look how much I read just in one night!!" The bookmark was halfway through the book. She began to tell me the whole story so far and I was amazed at how she was grasping concepts and drama! She's totally enthralled. I love her passion and excitement and hope this author continues to write excellent books that she can enjoy at such a young age.

DRAGON PEARL by Yoon Ha Lee is one of the new books on the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, but I’m here to tell you that even if you haven’t read or liked a single Rick Riordan book, you need to get your hands on this one when it releases.Now, the Rick Riordan name is strong and definitely conjures up some associations. I say this with all love, as I generally fill out his name under ‘favorite author’ when forced to choose. But, back to those associations. Generally, you’ll think of kids who are demigods that get prophecies of doom and go on quests to save the world, showering you in fun mythology of varying backgrounds all along the way. For some people, this isn’t interesting. I get it, we all have our genres. DRAGON PEARL is NOT this.The blurb I remember seeing for DRAGON PEARL was “space opera meets Korean mythology.” This encapsulates the book pretty perfectly. DRAGON PEARL is not the contemporary world meets ancient mythology - DRAGON PEARL is an entire Thousand Worlds crafted lovingly out of Korean mythological themes. The mythology is never othered in this compelling story. Rather, it is the foundation and lifeblood for the world and characters. I am not Korean and have no prior knowledge of Korean mythology (other than some commonalities that it has to other East Asian ideas, of course). Despite this, I found myself immersed seamlessly in this world.Thirteen-year-old Min comes from a long line of fox spirits, but her family avoids showing their identity to be supernatural because of prejudices against foxes. She has always lived at home on her impoverished, world of Jinju, but when word comes that her brother Jun is accused of deserting the Space Forces to search for the Dragon Pearl, Min sets off to find her brother and clear his name. Through the twists and turns of this adventure, she will find herself as well.The story is exciting from the start, and even the slower information-gathering sections of the book are still tense with the pressure of dangerous secrets. The ending was unexpected and sets up nicely for what I hope will be a series of stories, but even if this is the end, I’m very happy.Something DRAGON PEARL does well that I appreciate is that it sets up gender variance as an accepted fact of life. Characters wear pronoun pins that tell our protagonist how to refer to them, and that’s all we need. The ideas of prejudice and racism are also touched on in the tension between supernaturals (such as foxes, dragons, tigers, ghosts, and goblins) and humans. Ultimately, Min shows that ALL should be accepted and respected.

Super excited to read the book, I love everything by Rick Riordan, and “Rick Riordan Presents” books tend to be just as good! However, the book arrived with water damage. It was mostly to the outside of the book, but I still asked for a replacement. It was quick and easy, no fuss! I’d still recommend this, I doubt it is common to get a damaged book. Mistakes happen!

I only realized afterward that I'd already purchased this book for my granddaughter and she loved it. I enjoyed the read but would not give it 5 stars. My granddaughter does!

This is a story of a thirteen year old fox spirit named Min. As a fox she can shape-shift into anything or anyone. She can also use charm to manipulate peoples thoughts or emotions. For these reasons fox spirits have bad reputations so, her family doesn't use their magic. Min and her family live on a poor and unfinished planet named Jinju. Min and her brother, Jun, always talked as children about doing what they could to help Jinju and other poor planets. Jun joined the Space Forces when he was old enough hoping to be able to do just that. Min, of course, longed to join her brother. The story begins with an investigator bringing news of her brother deserting his ship for the hope of getting the Dragon Pearl. Min immediately knows something is wrong. She knows her brother and knows he'd never desert. Some things happen and she decides to run off and find her brother. She finds a ship leaving Jinju and heading in the direction she needs to go, but the captain is a gambler and could possibly gamble her ship away. Min manages to get off Jinju anyway and that's where the real adventure begins. She's on a mission to find out what happened to her brother and she's willing to go to the ghost colony to do it. Along the way she encounters pirates, a dragon, a goblin, a tiger, and ghosts.I absolutely adored this book. The sibling bond is so relatable. The magic is just awesome. And there's space and ghosts!! I got strong Guardians of the Galaxy vibes while reading this. The way you jump through space and the way the dragon pearl works just put me in that headspace. I also really enjoyed that there was gender fluid characters in the story. This is a middle grade book so, I think it's awesome to teach kids are younger ages to be respectful and accepting of everyone. I can't wait to share this story with my kids. And I would so love if this became a series.

This is a Rick Riordan Presents title and it more than lives up to his recommendation. Set in a universe where magic and science both work, the reader gets an introduction to Korean mythologies and beliefs. This is a fantastic read and I can't wait to give it to my nephew.

The main character has wonderful qualities that kept me interested in what would happen next. The support characters made the book more fun and interesting. The adventure was the greatest!

Super good story. Fun & excitement for all ages.