Timothy Freshwater's father can't control him, his mother is always out of town, and now the boy - too smart for his own good - has been expelled from the last school in the city. After he meets Mr. Shen, a mysterious Chinese mailroom clerk at his father's office, Timothy winds up in more trouble than he has ever gotten himself into before.
It turns out the diminutive Mr. Shen is a dragon. Forced to take human shape for a thousand years, Mr. Shen cannot resume his true form until he scales an ancient Dragon's Gate during a festival for the 125th Year of the Dragon. Now Timothy finds himself Mr. Shen's latest keeper, and is led into a dizzying series of adventures.
Told in Adrienne Kress's distinctive, sparkling prose, Timothy and the Dragon's Gate is a humorous and astounding story about a boy who ultimately uncovers his own ability to love and opens his heart to the world around him.
Action-packed and full of reader-directed asides, Kress’s sophomore novel follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman…plenty of comic moments…a spirited follow-up.”
[The book’s] snarky dialogue, sudden twists, authorial asides and daffy characters will keep readers turning the pages.”
Enthralling and impressive... Kress has crafted an engrossing tale laced subtly with its own set of valuable lessons ones she is careful never to oversell. Timothy and the Dragon's Gate might be about growth and selflessness and generosity, but kids don't want to read that stuff: they want stories about pirates, ninjas, epic battles, sewer chases, and dragons, which Kress delivers in spades.... Timothy and the Dragon's Gate is an old-fashioned tale, being told by a gifted storyteller, to an audience of one.”
There's adventure, derring-do, attitude, and danger. All wrapped up in a clever and fascinating take on the reluctant hero, courage, loyalty, and--of course--dragons. Don't miss it.”
