Preorder The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon by Grace Lin!

I am thrilled to share with you my fifth grader's review of the forthcoming The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon - Grace Lin's first middle grade novel in nine years! (We are huge Grace Lin fans here. My son has an autographed copy of A Big Mooncake for Little Star, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Newbery Honor) is a book club selection for my fifth graders.)

This post is also part of  #iLoveMG, my continuing series where I share middle grade books recommended by my fifth graders. (Please note that my fifth graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for fifth graders.) For younger readers, #3rdfor3rd for recommendations from when I taught third grade.

The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon

Recommended by Anonymous

I think The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon by Grace Lin was REALLY good. All the characters have their own flaws and good things about them, and are very distinctive. The problem is kind of confusing at first (for the characters, not for me) and I love the rivalry between the dragon-head and the real dragon. The worm was probably my favorite character: he's so wise! (for a worm) The stories in between the book helped me understand what was going on, and it was a really good idea in the first place. 

Overall, I would rate this book 4.99 stars. Good job, Grace Lin! There would just be one thing I would fix: some of the drawings are a bit strange, and don't really match the story or what I'm thinking. Maybe they could be changed, or just removed. [Teacher note: this was the advanced copy with the sketches, not the full-color images.] Otherwise, this story was awesome with no flaws whatsoever.

Preorder Information

Grace is running several preorder campaigns for the book. And all preorders should receive the deluxe first edition, which is going to have these super-lovely sprayed edges with decorations. So fancy! 

- Preorder from High Five books for an exclusive sticker

- Preorder from Porter Square books for an enamel pin

- Preorder from the Eric Carle Museum for a virtual visit (order by April 11th) -  this is the one our school librarian is doing, yay! 

- All links available here 

- There is also details about all her upcoming tour dates (none in Wisconsin yet, sigh)

Click here for all of our #iLoveMG posts. What are your favorite middle grade books?