Skip to main content

Five Faves: New Dragon Chapter Books for Middle Grade

By
As a kid I was OBSESSED (all caps!) with dragons. Dragons can be scary, majestic, loyal, greedy, but what they all have in common is how fun they are to read about! Check out the dragon books below for some fun new reads!

Dad Rock Dragon Quest
Written by Joan Reardon
New York : Aladdin, 2025. Fiction. 342 pgs.

Dad Rock Dragon Quest follows 12-year-old aspiring rockstar Zadie Drake, whose summer plans to bond with her super cool, if sometimes absent, daredevil park ranger dad get complicated when her mom’s boring new boyfriend tags along. After they arrive at her dad’s cabin, a poacher kidnaps her dad’s ice-breathing dragon, revealing her dad's secret role protecting magical creatures and thrusting the family into a high-stakes rescue mission. Along the way, Zadie begins to rethink her relationships with both her father and her mom’s boyfriend. 

Written by Struan Murrya
New York, NY : Dutton Children's Books, 2025. Fiction. 320 pgs.

Dragonborn follows 12-year-old Alex Evans, who has lived under strict rules from her overprotective mother since her father’s death. One day, it's too much, and her bottled-up frustration bursts out as literal fire, revealing she’s a dragon in human form. Drawn to the hidden island of Skralla, Alex begins training with other young dragons to unlock her dormant powers and learn to control her transformation. As she struggles with fear and growth, dark forces led by the ancient dragon Drak Midna begin to rise, threatening both dragons and humans and forcing Alex to confront her destiny. 

Written by Shana Targosz
New York : Aladdin, 2025. Fiction. 416 pgs.

River of Spiritsfollows Senka, a girl who lives between the realm of the Living and the realm of the Dead as the ward to Charon, the Ferryer of souls. When a girl from the Living world, named Poppy, enters the Underworld searching for her brother’s ghost, Senka decides to help her, defying the strict rules she’s been taught. The two are swept far from home into the dangerous wilds of the Underworld. As they face malevolent spirits, demigods, and a terrifying dragon chimera, Senka begins to uncover hidden secrets about her guardian and her own mysterious origins. Can Senka’s courage and loyalty save both Poppy and herself?

Written by Jane Yolen
Watertown, MA : Charlesbridge Moves, 2025. Fiction. 111pgs.

Sea Dragons is a historical fantasy adventure set in 1890s Fife, Scotland, where 14-year-old Cat Douglas trains with a monster-hunting society to protect her village from dangerous creatures. When rumors spread that a fearsome sea dragon has breached the village’s defenses, Cat and her fellow hunters must confront the threat and prove their worth. 

Written by Sangu Mandanna
New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2025. Fiction. 277 pgs.

Vanya and the Wild Hunt follows 11-year-old Vanya Vallen, a British-Indian girl with ADHD who has always felt out of place and discovers she can talk to books that talk back. When a monster attacks her family, she learns her parents have been hiding magical secrets and is whisked away to Auramere, an enchanted library and school where she begins training with archwitches and archivists. While Vanya starts to find belonging and friendship in this magical world, the ominous Wild Hunt begins to threaten everything she’s come to love. She must use her courage and creativity to uncover the Hunt’s leader and protect her new home.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: A Game of Noctis

By
A Game of Noctis By Deva Fagan New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. Fiction. 310 pages. On the island of Dantessa, social standings and wealth are determined by your place in the Great Game. If you keep on winning, you can reap treasures, power, and security for yourself and your family; but if you lose too many games, you'll be exiled to Pawn Island and a life of servitude. That's what happens to 12-year-old Pia's grandfather. Due to poor vision, he struggles to see the games, but also can't afford new eyeglasses without winning. When his score falls to zero, he is sent away. Desperate to bring him back, Pia joins a ragtag group of misfits to form a team for the annual game of Noctis. The game requires contestants to perform dangerous challenges in front of a live audience, and no one outside the wealthy Diamond District has ever won. Each member of Pia's team, the Seafoxes, has their own reason to compete, but if they're going to win they'll h...
Post a Comment
Read more