Let's Bust a Recap : The Hunting of the Last Dragon

Okay, so this was another acquisition from one of the Little Free Libraries in my brother's neighborhood out in Los Angeles. And much like with Riding Freedom, I brought this one home thinking it would be fun to read with my nephew. But here's a friendly PSA to all you adults out there who like to read books with the kids in your life: do yourself a favor and just check the target audience the book is intended for. The Hunting of the Last Dragon was published and marketed to the young adult crowd, and if I had even skimmed the first page, I probably wouldn't have tried to read this to my nephew in the Year of Our Lord 2024. 

But, as it happened, I sat down with my six year old reading buddy to start this book together and we encountered "corpses" and "half-devoured bodies" within the first chapter which made for an unexpected vocabulary lesson. Upon the completion of that first chapter, my nephew declared, "Auntie Hannah, I think this book is too scary for me." 

Bury me now.

I quickly agreed with him and said we didn't have to read any more of it to which he promptly responded, "But I want to read it." 

The kid has a dark side. It's one of the things I love about him.

We finally agreed that the best course of action to prevent nightmares was to have me read it by myself and then tell him about it. A decision strongly confirmed when a few chapters later there was an attempted rape. Suffice it to say: lesson learned.

But after that rocky start I really enjoyed this little novel. Set in medieval England in 1356, The Hunting of the Last Dragon is the brave tale of Jude of Doran and his companion Jing-wei and their quest to slay the last dragon as told to Brother Benedict at the Monastery of St. Edmund at Minstan. After Jude's entire family and village fall victim to the terrifying fire from the sky, Jude finds himself in the company of a young Chinese woman who has been caged as a freak show for a traveling circus. After a harrowing escape from the traveling fair, they end up on this journey to vanquish the dragon, and Jude's small world is widened by his friendship with Jing-wei. Award-winning Kiwi author Sherryl Jordan had this book published in 2002, and her device of having Jude tell his story to Brother Benedict with all Jude's comic asides played wonderfully for me. I was swept into the tale and rooting for Jude and Jing-wei to prevail and find a happily ever after. 

We are now solidly two for two on the books I procured in LA—both of them books I got with my kiddos in mind and didn't particularly expect to enjoy so much myself. The Hunting of the Last Dragon is a book I would read again and definitely recommend, but for the love of good dreams, NOT to the six year olds. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for some of Sherryl Jordan's other books. 

Have you ever had a read-aloud fiasco?