Sign of the Green Dragon by C. Lee McKenzie

◊ SIGN OF THE GREEN DRAGON by C. Lee McKenzie

◊ Paperback: 181 pages

◊ Genre: Children’s Book, Action, Adventure

◊ Publisher: C. Lee McKenzie (Aug. 3, 2016)

◊ Language: English

◊ ISBN-10: 1532721250

◊ ISBN-13: 978-1532721250

SYNOPSIS:

Three plucky sleuths. A crumbling skeleton. A buried treasure.

After six months in a new school, Sam's finally fitting in. He's the one kid with enough talent to hit the winning home run and bring the baseball trophy back to Haggarty Elementary. But Sam's guardian is shipping him off to boarding school before that can happen.

When teammates, Joey and Roger, hear his bad news, they plot to hide him until the big game. Their secret cave is a perfect place until an earthquake shatters a wall and reveals a wooden chest with a red-eyed dragon carved into its top. Inside, a bony hand clutches a map with a note, promising treasure.

With Joey and Roger, Sam sets off to track down the clues and hopefully discover treasure.

Just as some puzzle pieces start to make sense, the boys become lost in a labyrinth of underground tunnels, trapped by dangerous thieves and sealed inside an airless tomb. 

Sign of the Green Dragon gets a high five for fantasy, fun and some fearsome adventure. If you like intrepid would-be knights on impossible and dangerous quests, you'll love this story. As one reader says, this book, "has more twists than a dragon's tail."

Author C. Lee McKenzie makes you remember what it was like dreaming the impossible as a child. Her writing is aimed at middle grade readers, but touches the inner child of adults as well.

Sam, the protagonist in McKenzie’s SIGN OF THE GREEN DRAGON, is a good-hearted youngster who is loyal to his friends and only wants to feel wanted and have a home. McKenzie explores the ups and downs of the youngster who has been orphaned and sent to live with an uncle dealing with a loss of his own. The characters are well-developed, realistic and very likable.

The story flows quickly and smoothly keeping your attention until the very end. While the story deals with several issues, it doesn’t get bogged down. With twists and turns to keep you guessing, you never know what to expect next.

A good mix of humor, loyalty, suspense, and friendship works well with bits of history to make this an expedition you don’t want to miss. This delightful fantasy will have you smiling and is the perfect addition to any youngster’s library. Caves, dragons, treasure and thieves, all the elements of a captivating adventure.

Sign of the Green Dragon by C. Lee McKenzie, C. Lee McKenzie, @2016, ISBN: 978-1532721250, Paperback, 181 Pages

FTC Full Disclosure – A copy of this book was sent to me by the author in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. The thoughts are completely my own and given honestly and freely.

Author C. Lee McKenzie

Lee loves to write for young readers. Sign of the Green Dragon is her third Middle Grade novel. Alligators Overhead and the sequel, The Great Time Lock Disaster were her first two. She’s proud to be a hybrid author with three Indie books out along with four traditionally published young adult novels: Sliding on the Edge, The Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative and Sudden Secrets. She said it’s fun to know both sides of this writing business. 

When she’s not writing she’s thinking about it or scratching her head over how all of this started. 

For more on the author and her writing, visit her website and connect with her on Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Lee likes to highlight the fact that she always has a free eBook (a different one every few months) available on her website for visitors.

SIGN OF THE GREEN DRAGON is available to pre-order at the following sites: Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

C. Lee McKenzie will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during her book tour. Check out her current blog tour HERE and visit the participants to enter the giveaway.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Be sure to check out Lee’s tour and learn more about this charming story. Do you enjoy stories where the protagonist is a youngster? Do you have a favorite story featuring a young protagonist?

Sign of the Green Dragon ..… Revealed

I’d excited and thrilled to be a part of author C. Lee McKenzie’s cover reveal for her upcoming release, SIGN OF THE GREEN DRAGON.

Doesn’t the cover just grab you and transport you to a magical place where you want to learn more? Here’s a synopsis of this fascinating new middle grade novel.

This hasn’t been the best year for Sam, and it just got worse. Right when he thought he’d found a permanent home, his finicky guardian tells him he’s shipping Sam off to private school. This means Sam won’t bat for his team, and if he doesn’t, Haggarty Elementary won’t win the baseball championship again this year. His two teammates, Joey and Roger, are determined to stash him in their secret cave—at least until he brings in the winning run.

While the boys explore the hideout, an earthquake crumbles a wall, revealing a hidden room—and it’s not empty. A dragon-carved chest opens to reveal a human skeleton, its hand-bones clutching a note with a crudely drawn map. At the top of the map is scribbled, 1859.

Sam, Joey and Roger learn about a treasure lying in wait, if only they can locate something called the Dragon Twin, reveal the truth about an old murder, and return a person named Mei Ling to her ancestors in China.

The boys are up for the challenge. But how? They only have the map showing the way to an old mining town, and some strange symbols they can’t understand. None of them can make sense of the note. Who’s Mei Ling? And what the heck is a Dragon Twin?

With time running out before he’s sent packing, Sam and his friends set out on an adventure that has much higher stakes than any baseball championship—one that gets them into trouble with a modern crime, pits them against ancient Chinese dragons, and reveals the true meaning of treasure for each of them.

SIGN OF THE GREEN DRAGON doesn’t release until August, but you can mark it ‘Want to Read’ at Goodreads and pre-order it now at Smashwords, Barnesand Noble, and Kobo. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Author C. Lee McKenzie

C. Lee McKenzie is a 4 and 5 star reviewed author. Her greatest passion is writing for young readers. Sign of the Green Dragon is her third Middle Grade novel. Alligators Overhead and the sequel, The Great Time Lock Disaster were her first two. She has traditionally published four young adult novels: Sliding on the Edge, The Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative and Sudden Secrets.

For more on the author and her writing, visit her website and connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. You’ll be seeing Lee’s upcoming release all over blogdom this month. Be sure to check it out and place your pre-order early. Are you a fan of dragons? Have you ever or would you like to participate in a treasure hunt?