Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is a cool action fantasy for middle grade readers by Xiran Jay Zhao. Released 10th May 2022 by Simon & Schuster on their children's imprint, Margaret K. McElderry Books, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the e-book format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of e-books with interactive formats lately. 

This is such a fun adventure. There will be inevitable comparisons with Percy Jackson, Pokemon Go, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, but while the similarities are there, it manages to be its own authentic self without being derivative in the slightest. It's very well written and entertaining and full of the sort of mythology and Chinese history which would have thrilled my 12 year old self and likely kept me up late reading under the covers with a flashlight. 

There are deeper, important messages to be found in the action as well: about fitting in and the dichotomy of being a 1st generation American kid in an area that isn't especially diverse. As an adult reading the book, I got a pang for young Zachary, whose mom doesn't want him to learn Mandarin as a 1st language since she didn't want him to have an accent when speaking English, and his guilt at trying to sneakily compost the packed school lunches she sends with him to school every day since they're not "American" food.

There is quite a lot of Chinese history and folklore I really enjoyed reading about, and I spent some hours afterwards reference hunting online - the author has done a great deal of research. I also liked her exploration of modern day Chinese politics and diversity (all written in age-appropriate terminology and quite understandably). 

Five stars. Genuinely entertaining.  Honestly funny in a lot of places. It would make an excellent choice for public and school library acquisition, and a good choice for bookish middle grade readers. I'm really looking forward to finding out what comes next!

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.