The Great Texas Dragon Race, (Hardcover)

This feels like a groundbreaking forerunner of a fantastic new genre: the dragon western. Nostalgic but totally new, The Great Texas Dragon Race by Kacy Ritter features a cast of well-drawn teen characters. Readers will fall in love with Cassidy Drake, who lives on a dragon rescue ranch in West Texas. She will be pitted against other teens in the race for $250,000. Dragons are being abused by the evil FireCorp, and Cassidy sets her sights on eliminating dragon abuse. A spunky 13-year-old, she leaves her beloved home and family to enter the Great Texas Dragon Race. Battling it out with other dragon riders, she and her dragon Ranga must win the race to save her dragon rescue. The action will thrill you, but like all great books, the characters are the stars. A diverse cast of teens whose personalities and dragons clash makes for great interaction and surprising developments as they learn about themselves and each other. The unexpected yet somehow familiar world built by Ritter is inhabited by many types of dragons, from house dragons to venomous killers. The Texas setting seems like something straight out of the Old West, with country western music floating out of windows and ranchers tending their herds... of dragons! Kacy Ritter builds a world that is familiar but unique. Great Texas destinations abound, as do dragons, unlike any other dragons in other books. A book for a whole new generation of kids to be exposed to the Western genre. Also, a book for those of us re-watching old Westerns. A book for all ages!