• Author: Silvana De Mari
• ISBN: 9780786836369
• Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy

I tracked down and bought this book after a ten year old girl insisted that I needed to read it.  It took me a while to find a copy, and it was even longer before I finally got around to reading it.  That ten year old is now sixteen.  Over the years that we used to talk, she recommended quite a few books that have become some of my favorites.  She is the reason I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.  I also read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer thanks to her, and no, I’m not sorry I did.  If she recommended the back of a cereal box, I would read it.

So, it was no surprise that The Last Dragon is one of the best middle-grade Fantasy books I’ve ever read.  My criteria for a middle-grade book, or any book for that matter, to be placed on my “Best Reads” list is fairly short: 1) make me cry, 2) make me laugh, 3) make me think.  If a book can make me do all three of those things in the space of one or two pages, it gets bonus points.  This book hit all three of those more than once.

The Last Dragon was also the perfect story for me right now.  It was comforting, and it made a connection with a place in my heart that very few books reach.  The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is one of those few books, and while The Last Dragon doesn’t top my all-time favorite book, it might be a close second.  If you need a comfort read and you enjoy middle-grade Fantasy, or if you’re looking for a special book for a kid, I couldn’t recommend a better book that doesn’t have at least one hobbit in it.

#COYER Scavenger Hunt #66: Read a book with a castle on the cover.