Skydragon 4 – Brave the Storm

Anh Do's Brave the Storm is a Skydragon adventure for 7 year olds about a girl whose superpower switches off just when she needs it most.

What happens

Amber can control insects. When she closes her eyes she sees them as tiny flares of purple light, and they do what she asks. That's what makes her Skydragon, and it's why government agents are hunting her.

But after a nasty bump on the head, the purple lights are gone. A fly tramps all over her sandwich and simply won't budge. Can you imagine anything more annoying?

Irene, who looks after her, has a plan. If they go somewhere absolutely crawling with bugs, maybe the power will come back. So they head for the rainforest of Sennam, where a legend says a cave of lilac diamonds is cursed.

The trail is closed. They climb over the barrier anyway (of course they do). Before long Amber has a dart in her bottom and wakes up tied to a tree.

The girl with the spear is Lin. She's sure Amber works for EverCorp, the logging company that wants the diamonds. Lin's tribe are defending their home against EverCorp's mercenaries, and Amber decides to help. With no powers at all.

That's what makes this one feel different. Amber is used to having millions of tiny friends on her side. Here she misses completely with a crossbow, trips a man into a tree and has a good cry when it all feels too big. Lin tells her crying serves no purpose, which is very Lin.

There's plenty of action. Sleeping darts in the dark, flares, a vine trap that leaves a man dangling upside down. The tribe's darts knock people out rather than hurting them, and EverCorp has been told not to harm anyone. Then three strange, blank-faced men turn up that darts just bounce off.

Amber's already on the run when it opens, so this follows on from earlier Skydragon books. A few chapters also cut away to the agents back at headquarters.

If you've got a reader who loves bugs as much as superheroes, Amber's excitement at spotting a dragonfly or a fishing spider is very catching.

What to read next

For an earlier Skydragon adventure, try Rescue Flight, where Amber flies off to a Pacific island to save a parrot that might already be extinct.