Mark+of+the+Dragonfly

Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson 2014 Fantasy/Steampunk

Top Shelf Fiction in VOYA Recommended by Barrington Public Library SLJ Grade 4-8

Link to NHU PAC here

Summary: (SLJ Review from Amazon):

From School Library Journal
Gr 4–8—In the future and on a ruined planet, orphaned Piper lives alone, making her living from mending the scraps she finds after the deadly meteor showers and dust storms that beleaguer the towns on the outskirts of civilization. She has an almost magical ability to fix things, mechanized things especially-it's as though the objects want to be mended by Piper, and sometimes they will work only for her. One day Piper finds a young girl who is silent, amnesiac, and in terror of the man who hunts her. Marked by the tattoo of a dragonfly, the girl can't hide until Piper spirits her away and, with the help of Gee (who can transform at will from handsome teenager to flying dragon), the stowaway girls find a safe home on steam train 401, hurtling through the hostile countryside towards King Aron's kingdom. Johnson has brilliantly taken the dystopian genre to a level accessible to tween readers. The Mark of the Dragonfly is a fantastic and original tale of adventure and magic with steampunk elements and a little romance thrown in. The landscapes the girls pass through are imaginatively depicted and cinematically described (streets lit by glowing "night eye flowers"). Fierce battles are tempered with humor, and Piper is a heroine to fall in love with: smart, brave, kind, and mechanically inclined to boot!—Jane Barrer, United Nations International School, New York City Comments:

This was a fun read and would be perfect for our list. Piper is a loner, trying to survive by using her mechanical skills repairing items scavenged from the meteor showers, and when we meet her she is fairly harsh. When she rescues the girl she is motivated by a potential reward that could set her up for life; during the course of the book Piper matures and begins to reorder her priorities. There's plenty of adventure and unique characters and a potential for book 2. - Yvette/Merrimack

Good characters who do not automatically win battles but stick together. Simple plot, adventure. Nancy/former Madbury

I found this to be a very readable fantasy adventure, with characters that were both interesting and relatable. Yes on this - Amy/ Barrington MS