City of Dragons: The Awakening Storm

(City of Dragons #1)

By Jaimal Yogis and Vivian Truong

New York: Graphix, 2021. Graphic novel.

Three years after she loses her father to cancer, Grace moves to Hong Kong with her mom and stepdad. She's not exactly excited about the move, or about being the new kid at a super-fancy private International school with lots of super rich kids. Not long after school starts, a mysterious old woman approaches Grace on a school field trip and gifts her an egg -- an egg that contains a baby dragon. Grace and her new group of friends are determined to care for the dragon and discover why the egg was given to Grace in the first place. Their search takes them on a journey through Chinese mythology as they fend off dark, mystical forces and an evil corporation determined to recover the dragon themselves.

This is a fun and exciting graphic novel series opener that is sure to appeal to readers looking for a fantasy series. Grace and her friends, a diverse and multiethnic group, are protagonists worth rooting for and the Hong Kong setting is a refreshing change. The panel work in this comic is clean, bright, and easy to read which makes it well suited for a reader practicing their graphic novel reading skills. But the high-octane plot, quick wit, and super appealing premise will make it popular with most readers.

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