Children of the Dragon Book One The Relic of the Blue Dragon by Rebecca Lim

"This was not a movie. There was no conveniently placed garbage skip down below filled with large pieces of soft foam to land on. It was an empty alley lined with cobblestones, broken glass and old spew. That was it."

Harley Spark's dad Ray is a "major (unconfirmed) underworld crime figure." Harley and his mum, Delia, live away from Ray but Harley still sees him each month. Harley, until now, has been an law abiding boy but when he sees an interesting large Chinese vase outside an antique shop he decides to snatch it. Is this a case of like father like son?

"The vase wasn't very big or very heavy; it was maybe thirty centimetres high with one very long azure-coloured Chinese dragon looped and coiled around and around the body and new of the vase. ... (it had) two golden, stag-like horns and two burning gold eyes with black centres ringed in a thin line of blue ... the painted dragon seemed almost alive."

Harley grabs this precious object and hides it in his school and rushes home. The vase seems to take hold of him and later when his mum comes into his room he begs her to smash it. Just like the genii in the bottle doing this sets free a girl. She is clearly from a different time.

"She had a triangular face with high, pronounced cheekbones ... the tunic she wore, plain black but crawling with the looping body of six coiled dragons."

Even her slippers are embroidered with gold and azure dragons. She takes up a defensive stance similar to ones Harley knows from his Tae Kwon Do lessons. Who is this girl? Where did she come from? Delia and Harley are buzzing with questions. Luckily Delia knows a few words in Chinese but real communication does not begin until this mysterious girl breaks into the State Library where she rapidly reads a series of ancient books and somehow learns English in just one night. I know all of this sounds utterly fanciful but it actually makes sense in this fast-paced plot and the rush through the night time streets of Melbourne make for a thrilling series of scenes.

The crux of the story relates to an ancient Chinese legend of five dragons. All were daughters of the First Dragon. Their names match their colours - Vermilion, Yellow, Azure, White and Black.  The Second Dragon had nine sons. He considered himself greater than the First Dragon so he had his five nieces abducted and a magician cast each into a plain porcelain prison. Harley and his mum have accidentally set the Azure daughter free and now the race is on to reunite these girls.

Harley asks his father for help. Ray has powerful connections in the underworld. Harley is whisked off in a plane to a museum which holds a precious ancient Chinese vase but no one seems to check and this might be the wrong vase.

You will need to wait to read The Relic of the Blue Dragon from the new series Children of the Dragon by Rebecca Lim because it is not due for publication until August 2018 but do pop it on your to read list because this is a terrific story which middle primary students are sure to enjoy. This might seem strange but I was so pleased this book only had 171 pages. This meant I could read it all in one sitting. This made it easier to keep track of the rapid fire twists and turns that make this an enjoyable story. The plot has the feel of a highly charged action movie - one you don't want to end.

Take a look at this ABC Splash interview with Rebecca Lim and this detailed review. Rebecca Lim is new to me but we do have four books from her series Whiffy Newton in our school library. She is also an acclaimed Young Adult author and she received an impressive STAR review with Kirkus for the YA title The Astrologer's daughter.

If you enjoy action and crime thrillers I would follow this book with Loot by Jude Watson.