The Secret of the Dragon Gems, Rajani LaRocca
The Secret of the Dragon Gems, Rajani LaRocca
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The Secret of the Dragon Gems

Author: Rajani LaRocca, Chris Baron

Narrator: Reena Dutt, Mark Sanderlin, Jason Culp, Vivienne Leheny, Mx. Nicky Endres, Suzanne Toren

Unabridged: 6 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/29/2023


Synopsis

Co-written by Newbery-honor winning author Rajani LaRocca and Chris Baron, this page-turning novel is told through letters, e-mails, instant messages, and video chats between camp friends Tripti and Sam over their shared love of a book series and some mysterious rocks they brought home from summer camp.

Eleven-year-olds Tripti Kapoor, a feisty "word nerd" from Massachusetts, and Sam Cohen, a shy, imaginative, budding geologist from California, are both miserable at Camp Dilloway, a summer camp in upstate New York. On the last night of camp, they follow a shooting star to a quiet creek. There they find two silvery rocks glowing in the night. They each take one home, and their long-distance friendship begins.

It's soon clear that these are no ordinary rocks. They seem to move on their own, get strangely hot, and even take over Tripti and Sam's thoughts! Inspired by their mutual love of their favorite book series, The Dragon Gems, they dub the rocks Opal and Jasper, after the Dragon Gems in the books.

But others are interested in the stones too--including the owner of Camp Dilloway, who hides a secret of his own. Tripti and Sam must crack the Dragon Gems' code and keep them out of Dilloway's clutches, all while navigating the rocky road of middle school friendships and learning to stand up for what is right.

About The Author

Chris Baron is a middle grade author and Professor of English at San Diego City College. He grew up in New York City, but he completed his MFA in Poetry in 1998 at SDSU. Find him online at www.chris-baron.com.Rajani LaRocca is a picture book and middle grade author. Rajani was born in India, immigrated to the U.S. when she was a baby, and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, she practices medicine and lives outside Boston with her family. Find her online at www.rajanilarocca.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Melanie on June 25, 2023

Having loved both authors’ realistic NIV books so very much (Red, White and Whole/The Magical Imperfect), I was quite nervous about reading a mixed format, more standard text fantasy book by the two of them. But by the end of the book, it was clear that both the partnership and the format change was......more

Goodreads review by Beth on October 16, 2023

Nominated for 2023 Cybils Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction This is a take on a letter novel, with two kids writing each other (by letter, email, transcription of video chat, and discord miscord messaging. It was kinda funny how the authors twisted the names of social media (me-tube, miscor......more

Goodreads review by Seher on March 10, 2024

This was so fun! Tripti and Sam meet each other at a summer camp and then spend the rest of the year communicating via letter, email, phone, chat, and Miscord (lol) about two rocks that each of them found. Something is up with these rocks though! They move overnight, are leaving the kids messages, a......more

Goodreads review by Becky on December 08, 2024

Tripti and Sam have very little in common except they both had a miserable time at Camp Dilloway and they both followed a shooting star and found glowing, unusual rocks the last night of camp together and discovered they both love The Dragon Gems fantasy series. After camp Tripti writes to Sam for a......more