The Dragon Thief (Dragons in a Bag) Hardcover – October 22, 2019

What a joy!I read this in one sitting after a busy day. I was quickly absorbed by the story, the second in a series that picks up right where the first one ended. Kavita, Jaxon, Vik, Aunty and Kenny jump off the page with themes of family and friendship. The dragon at the center of the story grows and grows every time it eats something sweet, so there's an element of race against time to get it back to the magic realm.It's Brooklyn and Queens, but Brooklyn and Queens with dragons! A tension exists between keeping magic in the magic realm and keeping it out of the "non-magic world;and there is Blue a villainish character who wants the worlds to merge. He has his reasons and like the other characters he isn't all one thing or another.I enjoyed hearing from Aunty and I learned about the Siddi in India, people brought from southeast Africa by the Portuguese to work as slaves in India. I love how Zetta Elliott infuses her stories with cultural knowledge, history and curiosity.Looking forward to the next in the series!!

It is a great book for kids. Jaxon and his friends have to follow the clues, take responsibility for the care of a dragon and its realm, see through the lies of a man claiming to be a 'guide' and find unexpected friendships that they hadn't noticed before. The magical events shed light on how the friends can use their own talents in their real world and care for family around them. I wanted to turn every page, especially throughout the 2nd half of the book.

Better ending than the first book. It didn’t hold our attention as much as the first one did.

Very cute! Love how the story stays open for a third.Got the first book for a work project and became invested in the story, had to know what happened!

Great product! Came brand new, excellent read for my 9 year old. Very happy with purchase

Before I read it I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did it is the best book I’ve ever read

I received a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.The Dragon Thief is a diverse adventure into magic, finding your place, and learning to do what is right, even if it’s hard.I admit that this one lost me a bit compared to the first book. I really enjoyed the magic and the adventure, but the whole plot was driven by miscommunication and adults not acting like adults, which is my least favorite trope. I don’t think children will be as put off by this as I am, though!My Thoughts:- There are some great themes in this about family and finding your place! I think this was my favorite part of the book, because it’s deep enough for older readers to really be able to sink their teeth into, but easily digestible for the young target audience. I think my favorite theme, though, was family! There was so much to dig into here, from the fact that family doesn’t always mean blood, to the fact that sometimes family messes up and may need to be forgiven. Or that despite everything, in the thick of things, family should be there for each other. I just really loved seeing all the different, complicated facets of family life brought up in this book!- There’s a cast of very diverse characters, and I was surprised that I actually learned some things I didn’t know while reading this! That’s my favorite sort of book: the type that seamlessly tricks you into learning things when you’re not even paying attention. There were a few things brought up that I knew that I don’t think kids necessarily will, and I liked the way it was introduced. I particularly enjoyed the information about India, though, and the different origins of parts of the population. The book doesn’t delve so deep into this that it might start to feel like a history lesson, but it introduces just enough to pique one’s curiosity and interest, which I especially enjoy!- I enjoyed the magic in the first book, but the magic was so much more exciting in this, and I loved the extra look at the magical world! I’m not even sure how much I can or should say about this part, because you really just need to read it and discover the magic yourself. It just felt like the magic was built up so much more in this book, and I had fun with it.Sticking Points:- This entire plot never would’ve happened if adults acted like adults or any amount of communication happened in the first couple of chapters. This frustrated me so much right from the get-go that I found it hard to get into the plot after that. I think this probably won’t be a problem for the target audience, who are much less likely to notice or care about this. For me, though, this was a big sticking point, because I just couldn’t see the point of the rest of the book when it could’ve been solved so easily in the first place.- The adults really pile on Jaxon in this, and I was not a fan. This is another one that, again, I doubt children will recognize or even care about, but from my adult perspective, I did not love this. Mental health is important to me. Oh my gosh, I was so frustrated by how much these adults piled on Jaxon about how much he had failed them and everything was his fault. He’s a kid, dude.

Just as sweet and magical as the first book. Jax has to retrieve and return the missing dragon, but the portals are no longer working and something is wrong with the magic, causing Ma and all the other adults to be unable to assist him.What I love about these books are its many colorful characters. Like Brooklyn, this book has a variety of people of different shades and colors, and shows how sometimes the oddest looking people can be the nicest and most helpful. Plus, I learned some fascinating tidbits of history that I'd never heard of before.Jax, Kavita, and their friends and families were fun and great to meet. This book was a warm slice of pie from the colorfulest corners of Brooklyn. I highly recommend it. It's a fun and magical adventure.I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.