Monday, January 28, 2013

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Dragon Seer’s Gift


Today’s pick:  Dragon Seer’s Gift by Janet McNaughton

HarperCollins Canada, 2011

From the publisher:
Bored by homework and bullied at school, twelve-year-old Gwyn Rae reluctantly takes on a Heritage Fair project to boost his history mark. He begins to investigate the papers of his ancestor, Daniel Rae, with help from his older sister, Maddie. Together they discover a notebook filled with writing only they can see and an iron key that seems to react to their touch. When the key unlocks a secret door in an old church, Gwyn and Maddie are launched into the adventure of their lives.

My Take: 
It’s interesting the way the author tied magic and dragons to history. This is not a fast-paced story, but I was intrigued by Daniel and Maddie’s special abilities and wanted to keep reading to find out more. I liked the way Daniel and Maddie were depicted as part of a family, with their parents having a presence in the story. The bullying and environmental issues in this story make it a good book for discussion in a classroom.  

As a writer, I liked the idea of bringing history into fiction. I thought the dialogue was realistic and studied the way the author was able to tell so much of the story through dialogue.

Favourite quote:
“Real magic is a force of its own, like the force of nature. It works as it wants to, not as humans would have it work.”

Other Info:
Janet McNaughton lives in Newfoundland. Dragon Seer’s Gift is set in her own neighbourhood in St. John’s. You can take a visual tour of some of the places in her book on her website.

This book is nominated for the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading in the Silver Birch category for 2013. [I have previously featured some of the other nominees: Cat Found by Ingrid Lee, A Tinfoil Sky by Cyndi Sand-Eveland and The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis.]
Dragon Seer's Gift also won the IODE Violet Downey Book Award and was named as one of three honour books for the Canadian Library Association's Book of the Year for Children in 2012.

On her website, the author says: “I'm very happy to be able to spend my time writing. I usually can't wait to get to work in the mornings.”


Other books by this author include:

Dragon Seer
An Earthly Knight
The Secret Under My Skin
The Raintree Rebellion
 
Catch Me Once, Catch Me Twice
 
Make or Break Spring
 
The Saltbox Sweater
 
To Dance at the Palais Royale
 
For more about Janet McNaughton, check out her website.
 
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday was dreamed up by the incredible Shannon Messenger, author of Keeper of the Lost Cities. Visit her blog for an up-to-date list of all the bloggers who are participating and posting about middle grade books today!

 


 

5 comments:

  1. I was intrigued by the title. This sounds like an interesting book. Thanks for sharing it.

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  2. This sounds like a good book for my son, except he's a reluctant reader and needs a fast past story to keep him reading. :(

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  3. Can't believe I haven't heard of this book. It sounds lovely.

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  4. This sounds like an interesting read. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. I haven't read anything by this author. This sounds like a fun book with a twist on history. Great review and thanks for sharing.

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