The Dragon of Cripple Creek

July 1, 2011

Gr 5-8-Kat Graham loves gold-she even has a gold tooth-so when she sees a sign for the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine tour in Cripple Creek, CO, she persuades her father to take a short detour en route to his new job in California. While on the tour, Kat sneaks away from the group, tumbles down a shaft, and makes a startling discovery: Ye, an ancient dragon surrounded by a hoard of gold. Gold, Ye explains, is what remains of dragons after they die, and Ye is the last of his kind. Though touched by his story, Kat can't resist keeping a nugget for herself and ends up sparking a national sensation as various forms of human greed and ambition collide in a second gold rush. Featuring among other things a cool private eye, a nasty investigative reporter, and a tragic accident that has left Kat's mother comatose, Howell's debut novel is often a bit too crowded for its own good, but the book provides some interesting discussion points on the themes of greed, mortality, and wonder.-Christi Esterle, Parker Library, CO

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2011
Grades 5-8 What if there was a gold rush today? After Kat, 12, falls 500 feet straight down an abandoned Colorado mine chute and returns with a nugget of gold bigger than her fist, she triggers a public uproar that escalates into a full media frenzy. What she keeps secret, even from her struggling family, is something much more precious to her than gold: in the cavern of Ye, she discovered the last dragon on earth, and she is determined to return his gold and protect him from the public, especially the business thugs who want to start mining at the site. Meanwhile, in contrast to the raging public uproar, Kats family confrontations are so quiet that you could hear a grain of sand drop. Writing in Kats first-person narrative, which is wry and funny, clipped and eloquent, Howell, best known as an illustrator, mixes fantasy adventure with a moving conservation story in a debut that blends sadness, secrecy, and pure fun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)