Night Of The Ninth Dragon
Stayce Cawthorn
In the first book in this series, eight-year-old Drake is snatched up by King Roland's soldier and taken to the castle. He is to be trained as a Dragon Master. At the castle, he is joined by three other young Dragon Masters-in-training: Ana, Rori, and Bo. The Dragon Masters must learn how to connect with and train their dragons - and they must also uncover their dragons' special powers.
Kitchen-boy Simon is bored, restless and 14 years old - a dangerous combination. It seems, however, that his life has just taken a turn for the better when he's apprenticed to his castle's resident wizard. As Simon's learning to read and write under Doctor Morgenes' tutelage, forces greater than he could possible imagine are gathering: forces which will change Simon's life - and his world - forever. Following the death of Good King John, Osten Ard is plunged into civil war as his sons battle for control of the fabled Dragonbone Chair - the country's throne as well as the symbol of its power.
Firedrake, a young dragon, receives a frightening warning one night: Humans are planning to destroy the valley in which he lives! All the dragons must flee. Their only refuge is a place above the clouds called the Rim of Heaven - which may not even exist. Firedrake boldly volunteers to go ahead first. As he embarks on his journey, he meets Ben, a runaway boy.
In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.
Being the heir to Camelot is a tangled mess. Rapunzel has spent her entire life living in Merlin's cave on the coast of Cornwall. Under the protection of her faerie guardian, Gothel, she's stayed safe. Safe and bored. Dreaming of a life that looks more like a Jane Austen novel, Rapunzel fears she'll never have the chance to explore Victorian England's modern delights. Or meet a man. Or be kissed. Or anything else remotely resembling normal.
This breathtaking, full-color illustrated fantasy is inspired by Chinese folklore, and is a companion to the Newbery Honor winner Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Pinmei's gentle, loving grandmother always has the most thrilling tales for her granddaughter and the other villagers. However, the peace is shattered one night when soldiers of the Emperor arrive and kidnap the storyteller. Everyone knows that the Emperor wants something called the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night.
The magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie through space and time to find that the castle of Camelot has been attacked and King Arthur has been gravely wounded. To save the kingdom - and the king - Jack and Annie have only one day to solve a riddle that will help them find a missing dragon!
Even though thirteen-year-old Marcus Kanenas is confined to a wheelchair, he sees himself as a survivor and a dreamer. In fact, his favorite dream is of a world far away, a world where magic is as common as air, where animals tell jokes, and where trees beg people to pick their fruit. He even has a name for this place - Farworld. When Marcus magically travels to Farworld, he meets Kyja, a girl without magic in a world where spells, charms, and potions are everywhere.
"Oki! Wait!" shouted Annie. "Stay!"
But the puppy kept running. He crossed the street and disappeared into the Frog Creek woods.
Jack and Annie raced into the woods after their puppy. "You were right!" wailed Annie. "We should have put him on the leash!"
"Yip, yip!"
They found the puppy at the base of a giant oak tree. The magic tree house was nestled high in the treetop.
Jack and Annie race up their rope ladder into the tree house, expecting to find the usual guidebook and rhyming challenge from Morgan Le Fay or Merlin. But there's nothing. Then Oki begins to bark at a piece of paper blowing toward the ground. Annie scurries down the ladder and retrieves it. It is a brief unsigned note in old-fashioned handwriting:
Dear Jack and Annie,
Please come to Camelot.
Jack and Annie have never found such a vague message before. But they can't turn down a chance to visit the legendary city of Camelot, so Annie points at the word Camelot and their tree house begins to lift off and spin, and then everything becomes still and shadowy.
The tree house rests in the gnarled branches of an ancient tree in a wood. That's not unusual. But Jack and Annie are perplexed. What is most unusual is that they are still dressed their regular jeans and tee-shirts, not medieval clothes. There's no sign of the spires of Camelot. But following Oki, who pulls them steadily on his leash, they soon see the walls of King Arthur's castle with his flags with the dragon insignia blowing in the wind.
But as they approach the gates, they are met with a disturbing sight--Queen Guinevere herself, appearing distraught and even disheveled, running out to meet them. And her story alarms Jack and Annie.
War has come to the kingdom of Camelot, and King Arthur has been mortally injured in battle and lies inside in a secret chamber in the castle, kept perilously alive only by a dwindling supply of magical waters from Avalon. The only hope for saving Arthur and the kingdom of Camelot is to get him to Avalon's curative lake and find the stolen golden Ninth Dragon icon and return it to Morgan LeFay's secret garden to restore Merlin's protective spell over Camelot against their enemies.
In ragged hooded cloaks which disguise them as peasants, Jack and Annie, Guinevere, and King Arthur set out in an ox cart for the cottage of a a famous seer, Cafelle, whose vision comes in the form of a riddle for Jack and Annie:
Moon so bright,
Munith Mor night.
Curtain of white,
Hides from sight.
Magic for flight,
Before dawn's light,
Or lose the fight."
Cafelle's vision tells them to follow the cart path across the moor, and with the supply of magical waters running low and King Arthur growing dangerously weak, Jack and Annie set forth toward Avalon. But suddenly, the oxen's harness breaks in the middle of nowhere.
"We have to keep going."
"Never give up!" said Jack.
Jack takes a place behind the cart to push, and Annie and Queen Guinevere take up the wagon's tongue and begin to pull the cart toward Avalon.
Will Jack and Annie's gift for solving riddles save King Arthur and Camelot? As the past 54 books in this series suggest, Jack and Annie will come through, in Mary Pope Osborne's latest, Night of the Ninth Dragon (Magic Tree House (R) Merlin Mission) (Random House, 2016), a series which celebrates the ordinary powers of imagination and perseverance that Jack and Annie together have. Osborne's best-selling beginning chapter books provide plucky young heroes and a taste of folklore, history, and geography that combine fantasy adventure and plenty of incidental learning along the way, all with the help of the inspired black and white illustrations of Sal Murdocca. For kids who want "just the facts," along with their magic, pair this one with its companion Fact Finder volume by Natalie Pope Boyce, Dragons and Mythical Creatures (Magic Tree House (R) Fact Tracker).Labels: Arhur, Beginning Chapter Books, Fantasy, King-Fiction, Magic--Fiction, Time Travel--Fiction (Grades 2-5)
RJ Sherwood hit his sixth home run of the year and is now tied for second on the Clinton LumberKings Prospect League franchise record for most home runs in a season (T-2 Jay Beshears, 2022). Bryan Belo hit a grand slam for his first home run of the season to assist in the victory over the River Dragons. A solid start from Clinton native Brenden Martin also kept the River Dragons off the board for most of the night.
Clinton got on the board early when RJ Sherwood launched a two-run homer to right-center in the first inning, scoring Jalen Martinez and setting the tone for the game. The LumberKings extended their lead in the seventh inning, capitalizing on a wild pitch by the River Dragons' Brock Brown that allowed James Hackett to score. Jalen Martinez followed with an RBI single, driving in Byron Blaise to make it 4-0.
Alton managed to cut into the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Erik Broekemeier drew a bases-loaded walk, bringing home RJ LaRocco Jr., but the River Dragons could not further capitalize, leaving the bases loaded.
The LumberKings put the game out of reach in the eighth inning when Belo smashed a grand slam to left field, driving in Blaise, Hackett, and Jaden Hackbarth, extending Clinton's lead to 8-1. Alton's only other run came in the ninth inning with a solo home run by Luke Melton.
Clinton's pitching staff delivered a strong performance. Starter Brenden Martin pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out three. Tyler Welch (1-1) earned the win, allowing one run on two hits in 2.2 innings. Jackson Bruno and Hayden Vickroy combined to close out the final 2.1 innings, with Vickroy surrendering one run on a Melton homer.
Alton's Gavin Kinworthy (3-2) took the loss, pitching five innings and allowing two runs on two hits. The River Dragons bullpen struggled, particularly in the eighth inning when Matthew Brown allowed four runs on three walks and a hit in just 0.2 innings.
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