In this middle-grade story, An Unexpected Adventure by Kandi J. Wyatt, eighth-grader Harley and two friends help a geologist look for geodes on the beach. Instead, they find what seems to be a huge egg. Soon it hatches –into a dragon!

They’re able to hide the baby in a remote barn. As the dragon grows, she steals their hearts and talks to their minds. Soon they pull several more people in on the plot to conceal her and care for her, including a big sister and the school science teacher.

But a threat looms. The geologist/professor seems to know she is there and tries to find her. It’s pretty clear that this guy must be up to no good. Harley, the protagonist, keeps having nightmares about this “professor” shooting both him and the dragon with white webbing, giving Harley an asthma attack in his sleep every time. Then they find out he’s no professor, but a government agent!

The dragon begins lunching on the neighbors’ sheep, and people are getting angry. How can the group of caregivers find a safe place for her to live, and also keep her away from the professor/agent?

This book is a gentle story that includes a lot of wonder.  It’s perfect for lovers of dragons, ages 8 and up.