Content levels
Trigger warnings
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Themes
Synopsis
set in China in 141 B.C. In a remote western palace, Ping, a slave girl of unknown origin, serves the emperor's Dragon Keeper, an incompetent drunkard who neglects the two last-known dragons in his charge. When one of them dies and an evil hunter threatens to kill the other for his magical body parts, the old dragon, Danzi, escapes with the girl. He entrusts Ping with his precious and beautiful purple stone, which he is determined to take to the ocean. As they make their long journey east, Ping develops plausibly from a terrified, abused child into a confident young woman who truly deserves the official title of Dragon Keeper. Beset with self-doubt, often making mistakes, she slowly becomes aware of her innate powers, which includes second sight. The plot twists and turns, cinematic action comes in bursts, and villains are vile, while Danzi, Ping, and her pet rat are heroic, appealing companions who can fight or scheme their way out of every tight spot. Danzi sometimes speaks like a Daoist philosopher, but his telepathic communication with Ping too often resembles the truncated phrases of a Chinese speaker still learning English
Is Dragonkeeper appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 10 and up.
A middle grade fantasy adventure about a slave girl who escapes with a dragon and grows into her powers. Contains action violence, abuse of the protagonist early on, and villains seeking to kill the dragon for magical body parts.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include child abuse, slavery, and animal death (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Kids will love following Ping's journey from scared slave to confident Dragon Keeper, accompanied by a wise dragon and a pet rat on an exciting quest across ancient China.