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Dragon Masters #12
Treasure of the Gold Dragon
The race is on to find the Gold Key!
Pick a book. Grow a Reader! This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow. In the 12th book of this fantasy series, Maldred is after the powerful Gold Key! Drake and Rori travel to the lair of the Gold Dragon to help protect the key. There, they meet a new Dragon Master named Darma. If dark wizard Maldred gets his hands on the Gold Key, he will be one step closer to controlling a powerful Earthquake Dragon. Can the Dragon Masters stop him before it's too late? The action is nonstop in this exciting, heavily illustrated early chapter book series!
Pick a book. Grow a Reader! This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow. In the 12th book of this fantasy series, Maldred is after the powerful Gold Key! Drake and Rori travel to the lair of the Gold Dragon to help protect the key. There, they meet a new Dragon Master named Darma. If dark wizard Maldred gets his hands on the Gold Key, he will be one step closer to controlling a powerful Earthquake Dragon. Can the Dragon Masters stop him before it's too late? The action is nonstop in this exciting, heavily illustrated early chapter book series!
96 pages, Hardcover
Published December 26, 2018
645 people are currently reading
600 people want to read
About the author
Tracey West
724 books538 followersTracey West is the New York Times bestselling author of Dragon Masters, a series in the Scholastic Branches line. She has written more than 400 books for kids, including the Pixie Tricks series and the Underdogs series with Kyla May.
Some readers also know Tracey for writing books based on animation such as Pokémon and LEGO Ninjago.
She currently lives in the western Catskills of New York with her husband, Bill; their adopted dogs; and a whole mess of chickens.
Some readers also know Tracey for writing books based on animation such as Pokémon and LEGO Ninjago.
She currently lives in the western Catskills of New York with her husband, Bill; their adopted dogs; and a whole mess of chickens.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
December 3, 2020
As a family we really love these books! A few years ago, I read the first eight books of this series to my son. My youngest daughter really enjoyed it and the three of us read them. This year my youngest has been reading them to me. And this was the first book we had not read previously. This year we found out that my nephew has been reading them and was only 1 book ahead of us. He is reading the physical books and We are reading the eBook editions. It is a great story in a wonderful series. My youngest daughter is insistent that we will read the whole series. And she has spent her reading challenge money buying all the kindle editions that are available.
I have said it before, and I state it again, ‘this series really has staying power’. I have read some of the stories 4 or 5 times now. And have been reading them for over 4 years. And I still enjoy the stories as do my children. My son who thought he had outgrown these stories has been sitting in and listening to his sister read them to me again lately. It is also great to know that my brother’s family loves them as much as ours. It is fascinating to watch the kids interact and compare notes about the books that they are both reading. And to predict what will happen next based on the endings of the book, or title of the next as we queue it up. And when we started this one she read 2 chapters beyond her daily required reading time.
One of the best things about this series is that it is a true series. In that each story builds upon the next. The stories are strong enough to be read on their own, but as a whole we get to watch the growth of the group as they come together as a team and learn to work together and support each other. And we see some characters come in and out of the stories. And in this one we meet a new dragon master and the golden dragon has a very special skill and power. And all of this while events of the previous stories are still not completely wrapped up. It is fantastic to have a series for readers this young that do not just reset at the beginning of the next book.
In this one the battle with Maldred heats up. This time Rori and Drake travel to the lair of the Golden dragon. And with the aid of Darma they try and take on the wizard. But the story does not wrap up and continues into the next volume. Be sure to have it on because you will want to begin it right away.
This is the first volume illustrated by Sara Foresti. And She is the fourth illustrator so far for the series. The illustrations keep a consistent feel and look. But Each artist leaves their own mark on the books they work on. Some illustrations stand alone and some wrap around the text and span two-page spreads.
Another excellent read in a great series. These are excellent books for young readers, but also entertaining enough for older readers. I am continually impressed with the staying power of this series. After multiple reads over several years I still really enjoy returning to the Dragon Masters. And look forward too many more reads in this series, as my daughter is insistent, she will read them all to me! And she insisted we give it 5/5 stars! A great read in a great series!
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Tracey West.
I have said it before, and I state it again, ‘this series really has staying power’. I have read some of the stories 4 or 5 times now. And have been reading them for over 4 years. And I still enjoy the stories as do my children. My son who thought he had outgrown these stories has been sitting in and listening to his sister read them to me again lately. It is also great to know that my brother’s family loves them as much as ours. It is fascinating to watch the kids interact and compare notes about the books that they are both reading. And to predict what will happen next based on the endings of the book, or title of the next as we queue it up. And when we started this one she read 2 chapters beyond her daily required reading time.
One of the best things about this series is that it is a true series. In that each story builds upon the next. The stories are strong enough to be read on their own, but as a whole we get to watch the growth of the group as they come together as a team and learn to work together and support each other. And we see some characters come in and out of the stories. And in this one we meet a new dragon master and the golden dragon has a very special skill and power. And all of this while events of the previous stories are still not completely wrapped up. It is fantastic to have a series for readers this young that do not just reset at the beginning of the next book.
In this one the battle with Maldred heats up. This time Rori and Drake travel to the lair of the Golden dragon. And with the aid of Darma they try and take on the wizard. But the story does not wrap up and continues into the next volume. Be sure to have it on because you will want to begin it right away.
This is the first volume illustrated by Sara Foresti. And She is the fourth illustrator so far for the series. The illustrations keep a consistent feel and look. But Each artist leaves their own mark on the books they work on. Some illustrations stand alone and some wrap around the text and span two-page spreads.
Another excellent read in a great series. These are excellent books for young readers, but also entertaining enough for older readers. I am continually impressed with the staying power of this series. After multiple reads over several years I still really enjoy returning to the Dragon Masters. And look forward too many more reads in this series, as my daughter is insistent, she will read them all to me! And she insisted we give it 5/5 stars! A great read in a great series!
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Tracey West.
November 3, 2022
I loved the cleverness that the gold dragon and its dragon master used to escape the dark wizard.
Read
September 17, 2024Galen read on September 15, 2024.
May 26, 2024
I liked it really short but I liked it
.
.
March 20, 2023
I liked when Drake and Rori met the Guardian of the gold key because I like gold.
July 14, 2023
I like that the master was calm and gave Drake and Rory some special items.
April 20, 2019
{My thoughts} – In the last book we’d learned that the evil wizard Maldred had managed to get away with the Silver Key. Drake had gotten a gift from the Silver Dragon’s Dragon Master the proved to be very useful in this book.
When they get to the Gold Dragon’s Lair they are too late. Maldred had gotten help and Eko had taken the Golden Key. They tried to stop him, but they weren’t able to at this time.
The Dragon Master in the Golden Dragon’s Lair helps them get to where Eko disappeared to. They travel to try and figure out what they can do to try and get the Key’s back. They hope that Eko would lead them right to Maldred. Eko did and then they had more to worry about.
This has been a fun book to read. I am learning more and more about the dragons in the series and about their powers. It is very interesting to me and I am interested in seeing what will come of Eko and Maldred in future books. I look forward to reading the next book in the series soon.
When they get to the Gold Dragon’s Lair they are too late. Maldred had gotten help and Eko had taken the Golden Key. They tried to stop him, but they weren’t able to at this time.
The Dragon Master in the Golden Dragon’s Lair helps them get to where Eko disappeared to. They travel to try and figure out what they can do to try and get the Key’s back. They hope that Eko would lead them right to Maldred. Eko did and then they had more to worry about.
This has been a fun book to read. I am learning more and more about the dragons in the series and about their powers. It is very interesting to me and I am interested in seeing what will come of Eko and Maldred in future books. I look forward to reading the next book in the series soon.
March 10, 2020
Just when I thought it couldn't get worse...
We start off with the gold key already lost. The Dragon Master of the gold dragon is a very zen, apparently psychic kid, who knows exactly what magical gift each kid will need. Eko is helping Maldred, and she's amazingly stupid - completely missing the part where he kept saying he's going to rule the world, not free the dragons as she wants...which since she's using a dragon herself seems pretty hypocritical. Rori shows off her stupidity again, by revealing herself by straight out yelling to Eko not to trust Maldred, thus getting herself and Drake immediately captured. Maldred is so powerful that not even dragons can subdue him...and even though the discs are in the possession of the kids, that doesn't matter because they immediately drop them and Maldred escapes with them.
Conveniently, since the dragon and humans that can teleport aren't with them at the moment, Drake's sword can create portals.
Btw, where is Eko's dragon?
We start off with the gold key already lost. The Dragon Master of the gold dragon is a very zen, apparently psychic kid, who knows exactly what magical gift each kid will need. Eko is helping Maldred, and she's amazingly stupid - completely missing the part where he kept saying he's going to rule the world, not free the dragons as she wants...which since she's using a dragon herself seems pretty hypocritical. Rori shows off her stupidity again, by revealing herself by straight out yelling to Eko not to trust Maldred, thus getting herself and Drake immediately captured. Maldred is so powerful that not even dragons can subdue him...and even though the discs are in the possession of the kids, that doesn't matter because they immediately drop them and Maldred escapes with them.
Conveniently, since the dragon and humans that can teleport aren't with them at the moment, Drake's sword can create portals.
Btw, where is Eko's dragon?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2025
I like that the dragon masters are attempting to be ethnically diverse. The power to change forms is a fun new power! I still don't really understand this earthquake dragon that can supposedly "destroy the world." That's obviously not something Maldred would want because he's also on the world. Again, I liked that despite trying to stop Maldred they didn't stop him from getting the keys, so they need to change plans to still stop him. This whole storyline feels weird, but it at least feels kind of epic to an 8-year-old.
October 8, 2019
My 9 year old can read these books by himself now but we still read them together because we both love dragons (they're the only things better than dinosaurs). We borrowed the first few from the library but when we caught up on the entire series we started buying them and now he wants to go back and buy the first ones too. Each book introduces a new dragon but the last few have an ongoing plot and villain they are trying to defeat.
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November 18, 2020My five-year-old got pretty scared at chapter 10 in this one. Spoiler coming about why.
SPOILER:
Maldred contemplates killing some Dragon Masters (feeding them to a Dragon) in order to "do what's necessary". It's the first time I've seen the theme of killing children (out of necessity, no less) in these books, and my five-year-old didn't want to finish. So heads up for any of you with kids who might react to that.
SPOILER:
Maldred contemplates killing some Dragon Masters (feeding them to a Dragon) in order to "do what's necessary". It's the first time I've seen the theme of killing children (out of necessity, no less) in these books, and my five-year-old didn't want to finish. So heads up for any of you with kids who might react to that.
March 22, 2019
I like the book because it has dragons and I like dragons. The main characters are Drake, Ana, Shu, Rori, Griffith(a wizard)and the dragons. The bad guys are Eko and Maldred. Eko wants to set the dragons free. Maldred wants to rule the world with the naga who is a powerful can destroy the worldish dragon!Can they make it on the next book? Well LET’S FIND OUT!!!!!!
February 17, 2021
I haven’t added books 6-11 to my “done” list on here yet but we are flying through this series! My 6yo son loves them and my 3 yo son even listens in to a great deal of the story. Each book is about 15 short chapters with illustrations on each page, which is helpful for new chapter book readers.
August 17, 2021
Especially by the time you're at the 12th book, you have to know what to expect from these from the standpoints of things like plot and character development. For me, it's a fun, safe, and nicely illustrated read at bedtime with the kids. These books are quite short, though, so we get through them very quickly.
June 14, 2019
Fun storylines, great characters and a wonderful series to share with the young fantasy fan in your life. My nephew is getting more and more into chapter books and I can't wait to share this series with him.
Read
June 15, 2019It would be unfair to rate this as I was mistakenly assigned to read this book over the summer but have not read the previous 11 other books...
It was as you would expect, confusing at first, and hard to care about these characters because I think I am already supposed to know about them :)
It was as you would expect, confusing at first, and hard to care about these characters because I think I am already supposed to know about them :)
June 24, 2022
My 5 year old enjoyed this book. We started with #12 and I think we will get #1 and read all of them! He really wants to read chapter books and this is a good start as he enjoys the fantasy stories with dragons and there are enough pictures to keep him intrigued.
June 21, 2025
My kids (7 and 5.5) are in their dragon era 🐉 🔥, and anything mystical, magical, and fire breathing has their utmost attention. We’ve read all 25+ of these and I can’t bring myself to log them all 😂 . Let this represent the series at large.
September 6, 2025
My 6 year old continues to love this series. They’re understandable for her while it also sparks discussion about new words she doesn’t understand. The stories are fun and engaging, so adults can enjoy reading them with their children.
January 31, 2019
So far this is my least favourite book in the series. The Dragon Masters are mostly helpless witnesses to the story unfolding between other characters.
February 7, 2019
Good book
It is a great book if you like it make sure to check out dragon masters shin of the silver dragon next book Is called dragon masters eye of the earthquake dragon
It is a great book if you like it make sure to check out dragon masters shin of the silver dragon next book Is called dragon masters eye of the earthquake dragon
March 5, 2019
It is cool and fun .I like the dragons they are so cool!!! :3 :3 :3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2020
I LOVE THIS DRAGON MASTERS BOOK
February 3, 2021
Lots of intense scenes in this one. Maldred and Eko are back to their mischief. I really enjoyed this one, and loved Darma. He might be my favorite dragon master to date.
February 19, 2021
Fast-paced and exciting. Full of ridiculous plot holes my kids didn’t notice.
February 24, 2021
read at the request of my Grandson David
March 29, 2021
I love the new dragon master in this one and the addition of some intrigue as well!
April 12, 2021
This book was amazing.
May 6, 2021
Drama! Like Karma!
May 22, 2021
Short, exciting and entertaining!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews