From the Bookshelf of Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC …

[close] I don't even know what to say about this. This was definitely not my cup of tea, and too often I found myself thinking "Huh?". I clearly didn't get it. At least it was a quick read, and I did read it all in one sitting.

Mark's coworker Jason convinces him to come along on a mission for "not the CIA but the government" for big money. With a pregnant wife at home, Mark agrees (for no apparent reason? he's getting a promotion at work, and they're moving to the boondocks where he even mentions that the cost of living will be so cheap? Did he even actually need the money??) Anyway, they go to the mythical Quanlom to blow up a mountain. Jason had always told tall tales about encountering a dragon there on a past mission, but of course Mark didn't believe his stories, and of course the stories are real. Also "real" are the tribe of magical children who will do anything to protect the mountain, and their dragon. I don't want to give too much away for those who will enjoy this, but at this point it also got way too gruesome for me.

I did find fascinating, however, the inspiration for the story: the image of Burmese twins who were child soldiers in the late 90's. The illustrators truly captured those children in this story.