Dragons in a Bag #2

This is the second book in a middle grade series. If you wish to see my review of the first book go here.

The Dragon Thief by Zetta Elliott

Publication Date: October 22, 2019

Summary from NetGalley:

Stealing a baby dragon was easy! Hiding it is a little more complicated.

Jaxon had just one job–to return three baby dragons to the realm of magic. But when he got there, only two dragons were left in the bag. His best friend’s sister, Kavita, is a dragon thief!

Kavita only wanted what was best for the baby dragon. But now every time she feeds it, the dragon grows and grows! How can she possibly keep it secret? Even worse, stealing it has upset the balance between the worlds. The gates to the other realm have shut tight! Jaxon needs all the help he can get to find Kavita, outsmart a trickster named Blue, and return the baby dragon to its true home.

ARC provided by Random House Children’s via NetGalley for an honest review.

This second book in the series was just as sweet and adorable as the first one. The best part of this series is the diversity of the characters. The author also does a great job of weaving the different cultures of the main characters in to the narrative. This way kids are learning about these cultures and being entertained by the story as well.

We first met Kavita in book one, but she was a minor character. The younger sister of Vik, she comes into her own in this story. Kavita is a great character, very caring and likable. She has a nice relationship with Aunty, an elderly woman that has been a part of her family for a couple of generations. Kavita would have been totally lost without her help and it was nice to see that intergenerational bond. Aunty was pretty feisty which made for a nice contrast to some of the adult characters.

Jaxon and Vik are also part of the story. Jaxon is struggling to help Ma, the witch he is apprenticed too. He knows that he needs to break the spell she is under but he has no clue how, except that returning the dragon Kavita stole is part of it. His wandering the streets of a colorful Brooklyn seeking the magical animals that helped him in the first book, was nice to see. He also makes a new friend Kenny, who Jaxon and Vic always thought as a bully, but are proven wrong once they get to know him.

There are lots of helpful adults in this story which is alway a good thing in middle grade books. Sometimes I think authors get bogged down in making the adults the villains and forget to have positive adult role models. There is one adult in this book that is portrayed as the villain, but I am not sure he really is. Only time will tell.

So far I have not seen that there will be a third book in this series, and this one certainly had a satisfactory ending that kids will accept. But I certainly hope that this is not the last time we will see this group of kids and I look forward to their next adventure.