The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon

by

Grace Lin

Imaginative merging of modern-day adventure and Chinese folktales for a warm and wonderful children’s story.

In The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon, author Grace Lin uses a fascinating combination of Chinese folktales to create a fresh and exciting children’s adventure story featuring a young stone lion cub named Jin, Lulu, a little lost girl, and an ancient dragon trapped in the body of a worm. Jin must overcome his fear of getting in trouble and his guilt of being in the wrong to save his stone spirit family and the Gonshi community when he causes the Sacred Sphere his father safeguards to roll out of their world and into that of the humans. 

The main character, Jin, is much like his human counterparts of the same age: interested in his own pursuits, pleasures, and interests, many times inconveniencing his parents and others due to being thoughtless or irresponsible. He’s disinterested and dismissive of his father’s stories of the past, responsibilities, or parental instructions until he finds himself accidentally shut out of his world and stuck in the human one, where he finds he longs to return to his family once again. When he discovers the damage the loss of the Sacred Sphere puts in motion, he must gather his courage and sacrifice his own desires to make things right again. His gradual growth and understanding of his choices are a poignant tale, one that even young children will recognize and consider. 

Jin is assisted in his journey by Lulu, a young girl trying to reunite with her mother, who is also undergoing her own revelations. Worm, the dragon trapped in this tiny, unassuming form, is probably the most fanciful of all the creatures in the book and has some of the best lines as he reveals his story and joins with the young ones to reset the balance in the world before it is too late. 

With its magical setting, mythical creatures, and suspenseful plot, I recommend THE GATE, THE GIRL, AND THE DRAGON to upper-elementary and middle-grade readers and for reading aloud to include younger listeners. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.