What do you think?
Rate this book
Dragon Masters #24
Dawn of the Light Dragon
In the latest action-packed installment of this New York Times bestselling series, Drake must find the brilliant Light Dragon! 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! To stop the Shadow Dragon from covering the whole world in a sky-shadow, the Dragon Masters must seek out a Light Dragon. So Drake and Darma travel to find a Light Dragon named Lysa. Lysa's Dragon Master, Rune, who is Deaf, explains that the Dragon Masters will need a Star Flute in order to summon a Star Dragon and stop the Shadow Dragon. But the flute is hidden within a dangerous labyrinth! Will they be able to make it out of the tricky maze? With engaging black-and-white artwork on every page, kids won't be able to put down this action-packed adventure!
96 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2023
312 people are currently reading
386 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Read
January 18, 2025Galen finished on January 7, 2025.
August 13, 2023
We enjoyed book 24! My kids liked learning about sign language to understand how the main character communicated. They tried all the signs pictured in the book and then looked up the alphabet online to try signing their names.
Read
August 29, 20237yo has started reading chapters on her own! I missed a lot of this book.
November 21, 2023
I enjoyed the Deaf character and the signs included.
September 9, 2023
My daughter was very frustrated when we finished the book before this, for it was clear that the current story arc would span a few volumes. We have all of them pre-ordered that are available. She could not believe she had finished it, in was early in her third day of reading time. Second it just ends, nothing is resolved and this time we do have a clear plan or idea where things are going next. And third based on the next announced the story that starts we have 5 months to wait for the next book. That next books is # #25 Legend of the Star Dragon. That is the strength of these stories.
This is an excellent read in aa great series. These books are well below my youngest daughters reading level. But she loves them so much. She reads for 20 minutes 5 days most weeks and a book in this series use to take her 10-12 days to read. This one she read in just over 2 sittings, just as fast as the last one. I have said it before and I state it again, this series gets better and better. It has serious staying power. In this volume we get a few more surprises, and to be honest our biggest cliff hanger ending yet! This is book 24 but we have reread a few of the volumes, making it the 36th time we have read a book in the series together, and she has read most of them 3 or 4 times waiting for new ones to come out. As a family we eagerly await the new volumes that have been announced. In this volume Matt Loveridge returns as the illustrator, he has illustrated a few in the series. But let us return to this volume.
The last part of the description of this volume is:
“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!
To stop the Shadow Dragon from covering the whole world in a sky-shadow, the Dragon Masters must seek out a Light Dragon. So Drake and Darma travel to find a Light Dragon named Lysa. Lysa's Dragon Master, Rune, who is Deaf, explains that the Dragon Masters will need a Star Flute in order to summon a Star Dragon and stop the Shadow Dragon. But the flute is hidden within a dangerous labyrinth! Will they be able to make it out of the tricky maze?
With engaging black-and-white artwork on every page, kids won't be able to put down this action-packed adventure!”
This story is the continuation of a darker and longer story line than any of the others in the series.. My daughter reads through the chapter titles before beginning, and she guesses what might happen. The chapters this time are:
A New Quest
The Crystal Castle
Rune and Lysa
The Secret
The Labyrinth
Learning from Rune
Lost!
A Code and a Challenge
A Puzzling Box
The Five Crystals
The Moving Maze
The Beast’s Demand
The Final Clue
Lysa’s Light
Sunshine in Bracken
The story continues directly from the last. This time we meet a new dragon master, and Drake and Dharma travel to find the Light Dragon. The light dragon’s name is Lysa and her dragon master is Rune, Rune is deaf and communicates by sign language and direct with his dragon. With Worm’s help as a go between they establish communication. But while traversing the great maze in search of the Star Flute they are separates. Can the three dragon masters solve the maze and the riddle that awaits them at the end of the maze? To find out you will need to read this amazing story.
But things are starting to get a little confusing; we have a sun dragon, a moon dragon, a lightening dragon and a light dragon. And we are on the quest for the Star dragon. My daughter has made a chart of the dragons, their masters, and their primary powers. This is another awesome read in an excellent series. Who knows what will get filled in next in The Legend of the Star Dragon. The series has real staying power. Even though they are well below my daughters reading level she still loves them! I believe they will be lifelong favourites. We can easily recommend this book and series!
This is an excellent read in aa great series. These books are well below my youngest daughters reading level. But she loves them so much. She reads for 20 minutes 5 days most weeks and a book in this series use to take her 10-12 days to read. This one she read in just over 2 sittings, just as fast as the last one. I have said it before and I state it again, this series gets better and better. It has serious staying power. In this volume we get a few more surprises, and to be honest our biggest cliff hanger ending yet! This is book 24 but we have reread a few of the volumes, making it the 36th time we have read a book in the series together, and she has read most of them 3 or 4 times waiting for new ones to come out. As a family we eagerly await the new volumes that have been announced. In this volume Matt Loveridge returns as the illustrator, he has illustrated a few in the series. But let us return to this volume.
The last part of the description of this volume is:
“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!
To stop the Shadow Dragon from covering the whole world in a sky-shadow, the Dragon Masters must seek out a Light Dragon. So Drake and Darma travel to find a Light Dragon named Lysa. Lysa's Dragon Master, Rune, who is Deaf, explains that the Dragon Masters will need a Star Flute in order to summon a Star Dragon and stop the Shadow Dragon. But the flute is hidden within a dangerous labyrinth! Will they be able to make it out of the tricky maze?
With engaging black-and-white artwork on every page, kids won't be able to put down this action-packed adventure!”
This story is the continuation of a darker and longer story line than any of the others in the series.. My daughter reads through the chapter titles before beginning, and she guesses what might happen. The chapters this time are:
A New Quest
The Crystal Castle
Rune and Lysa
The Secret
The Labyrinth
Learning from Rune
Lost!
A Code and a Challenge
A Puzzling Box
The Five Crystals
The Moving Maze
The Beast’s Demand
The Final Clue
Lysa’s Light
Sunshine in Bracken
The story continues directly from the last. This time we meet a new dragon master, and Drake and Dharma travel to find the Light Dragon. The light dragon’s name is Lysa and her dragon master is Rune, Rune is deaf and communicates by sign language and direct with his dragon. With Worm’s help as a go between they establish communication. But while traversing the great maze in search of the Star Flute they are separates. Can the three dragon masters solve the maze and the riddle that awaits them at the end of the maze? To find out you will need to read this amazing story.
But things are starting to get a little confusing; we have a sun dragon, a moon dragon, a lightening dragon and a light dragon. And we are on the quest for the Star dragon. My daughter has made a chart of the dragons, their masters, and their primary powers. This is another awesome read in an excellent series. Who knows what will get filled in next in The Legend of the Star Dragon. The series has real staying power. Even though they are well below my daughters reading level she still loves them! I believe they will be lifelong favourites. We can easily recommend this book and series!
August 3, 2023
Yay! More Dragon Masters books!
Drake and our friend from Treasure of the Gold Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters 12), Volume 12 Dharma head off to find a Light Dragon (not to be confused with a Sun Dragon or Lightening Dragon). This book was another charming read in the series. Dharma is an extremely chill Dragon Master and Hema's ability to change into other animals was used creatively in this book.
It is reminiscent of some of our other favorite books where the main challenge is to solve puzzles (especially Flight of the Moon Dragon: A Branches Book and Land of the Spring Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters 14): Volume 14) both of which we loved. My kids both learned some sign language in school last year - so having a Dragon Master who was deaf was pretty cool for them. I love the inclusion that Tracy West brings to her books for kids. I think it's so important.
Literally can't wait for the next installment to find out how they stop the Shadow Dragon from darkening the whole world!
Drake and our friend from Treasure of the Gold Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters 12), Volume 12 Dharma head off to find a Light Dragon (not to be confused with a Sun Dragon or Lightening Dragon). This book was another charming read in the series. Dharma is an extremely chill Dragon Master and Hema's ability to change into other animals was used creatively in this book.
It is reminiscent of some of our other favorite books where the main challenge is to solve puzzles (especially Flight of the Moon Dragon: A Branches Book and Land of the Spring Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters 14): Volume 14) both of which we loved. My kids both learned some sign language in school last year - so having a Dragon Master who was deaf was pretty cool for them. I love the inclusion that Tracy West brings to her books for kids. I think it's so important.
Literally can't wait for the next installment to find out how they stop the Shadow Dragon from darkening the whole world!
August 19, 2023
Another fantastic book from Tracey West! So many great elements about this book- the labyrinth puzzle was so much fun! My kids (5yo and 6yo) had a great time trying to figure out how to solve the labyrinth alongside Drake. The puzzles were just right for their age- challenging but solvable, and they were so excited when they got the answers.
Including a deaf Dragon Master was great. West includes some American Sign Language (ASL) words in the book, and my kids *loved* it. They had so much fun practicing the sign language. West highlights how inclusive and creative kids can be (as she has throughout this series). Even though Drake doesn't speak ASL, he finds ways to communicate. Rune (the deaf Dragon Master) is never treated as "less than", and is a key part of the team. West even adds a brief in-story note that sign language isn't a universal language, and different countries have different sign languages. Absolutely delightful!
Including a deaf Dragon Master was great. West includes some American Sign Language (ASL) words in the book, and my kids *loved* it. They had so much fun practicing the sign language. West highlights how inclusive and creative kids can be (as she has throughout this series). Even though Drake doesn't speak ASL, he finds ways to communicate. Rune (the deaf Dragon Master) is never treated as "less than", and is a key part of the team. West even adds a brief in-story note that sign language isn't a universal language, and different countries have different sign languages. Absolutely delightful!
February 7, 2024
Drake and Darma go on a quest with their dragons, Worm and Hema, to find a Light Dragon to help dispel the growing shadow in the land.
I like that the Light Dragon, Lysa's human, Rune, is deaf so Drake and Darma get to learn a little sign language in this adventure. Rune and Lysa are integral helps in the mission (which turns into finding a magical flute in a labyrinth) with their expertise in puzzles.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Any time there is something threatening, there's a quick magical non-violent answer
Ethnic diversity: Drake and Rune appear to be of European descent while Darma is likely Southeast Asian. There are other dragon masters of a variety of ethnicities.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Magic is a tool that can be used for good or evil. The symbolism of the light beating the dark is a recurring theme.
I like that the Light Dragon, Lysa's human, Rune, is deaf so Drake and Darma get to learn a little sign language in this adventure. Rune and Lysa are integral helps in the mission (which turns into finding a magical flute in a labyrinth) with their expertise in puzzles.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Any time there is something threatening, there's a quick magical non-violent answer
Ethnic diversity: Drake and Rune appear to be of European descent while Darma is likely Southeast Asian. There are other dragon masters of a variety of ethnicities.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Magic is a tool that can be used for good or evil. The symbolism of the light beating the dark is a recurring theme.
January 20, 2024
I read this one just to see what I thought of the series. The writing style is very simple, definitely for younger readers. I think children will like the relationship the kids in the book have with their dragons and that there are so many different types of dragon magic to discover. This book in particular had a lot of cool puzzles to solve to get through a labyrinth. I think kids will enjoy working through the clues themselves and seeing whether they are able to find the answers along with the main characters. Overall a good read for younger readers and an especially great series for dragon lovers!
April 25, 2025
The maze was kind of fun, almost like an escape room type thing, but since she's done that before in other books it didn't feel as exciting or new. I still love the representation, this time highlighting a deaf dragon master teaching some sign language. I also liked the touch of it being a boy with a long braid. I appreciated the dragon master's effort learn to communicate despite not knowing sign language, and not assuming the new dragon master was any less intelligent or not trying to communicate since it was hard. The story was kind of meh (again), but I guess we'll see them get a star dragon to finally solve this dark cloud business.
February 26, 2024
Drake and Darma have to find a way to stop the ever growing sky shadow. In order to do so they need to find a Light Dragon for help. Rune is the dragon master of Lysa, a light dragon. Rune is deaf however, so Drake and Darma need to communicate to Rune through their dragons (Worm and Hema) who then communicate to Lysa, who then communicates to Rune. As they join hands to find the star flute and summon the Star Dragon, will the six be able to solve all the puzzles in the maze in time?
July 12, 2024
This is such a great series for little ones. I have a kindergartener who loves to listen to books and it’s hard to find chapter books that are appropriate for this age. The author effortless includes a variety of characters. After reading this particular book my daughter said “oh I didn’t know boys could have long hair” so I love that she’s getting exposed to different things that we might not see in our every day life.
December 16, 2023
I liked this one, but I feel it moved and glossed a little more over issues than previous installments. I love how characters come back from previous stories though and we meet new ones constantly. I adore the diversity in this series!
March 27, 2024
I finished this book in a day. Like maybe an hour. This book was really good. I liked it. It made me feel happy and I really like this book. I definitely love the Dragon Master series. And thank you for this book Alicia! I’m really so grateful for it.
April 3, 2024
I listened to an audiobook of this one and it was good. I liked the description of the light dragon. The light dragon’s dragon master uses sign language as he is deaf. The labyrinth is quite interesting. I liked the puzzles. An engaging story.
October 6, 2025
Great Chapter books for young readers.
Easy words and nice simple adventures. Magical and fun story. The entire series so far has been a nice “in-between” books for to read, spacing my books apart.
Easy words and nice simple adventures. Magical and fun story. The entire series so far has been a nice “in-between” books for to read, spacing my books apart.
October 15, 2025
Another read-aloud to Claire and Janie (6 and 4). These books are fun, but nothing mind blowing. I'm trying to rate them against other books I've read with my girls and not against the literary world at large.
August 6, 2023
For what these are for early readers (formulaic chapter books), these are pretty good, keep kids engaged. Fun enough to read and good to get kids hooked.
October 13, 2023
Nice and just scary enough for 4.5yo
October 14, 2023
Another great Dragon Masters book! Drake must find a Light Dragon! I love how these books open children up to different characters with different personalities and abilities!
Read
November 6, 2023I thought this was a great adventure.
Want to read
January 3, 2024A, SM
March 4, 2024
My son really enjoyed learning some sign language in this book. He loves school and learning new things so this book was one of his favorites in this series.
March 11, 2024
The characters are good-ish but the plot is lacking anything interesting.
June 27, 2024
My 6 year old loves this series. The adventure in this book sets up for the next book.
November 25, 2024
CathyR
February 2, 2025
My kiddo thought it was so cool that sign language was included. She enjoyed learning some new words/signs.
February 12, 2025
4.5 stars. Love these books,audiobooks ares really good. My 8 are old loves these. This one was great because there is a dragon rider that is deaf and teaches the others sign language. Loved it.
April 7, 2025
Super fun with the ASL.
I like the puns of the names. Rune is another word for sign. Lysa's name is ASL backwards, almost.
I like the puns of the names. Rune is another word for sign. Lysa's name is ASL backwards, almost.
June 4, 2025
My 6 year old loves this series
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews