Coming Soon

The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon (Deluxe Limited Edition)

By Grace Lin

$18.99

$24.99 CAD

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Preorder now and receive the gorgeous DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last―featuring stenciled designed sprayed edges, as well as a foil case stamp and designed endpapers. This must-have special edition is only available on a limited first print run while supplies last in the US and Canada only.

From award-winning and bestselling author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Grace Lin comes a gorgeously full-color illustrated story about a lion cub and a girl who must open a portal for the spirits, based on Chinese folklore.

Jin is a Stone Lion—one of the guardians of the Old City Gate who is charged to watch over humans and protect the Sacred Sphere. But to Jin, those boring duties feel like a waste of time.

What isn’t a waste of time? Perfecting his zuqiu kick, scoring a Golden Goal, and becoming the most legendary player of all the spirit world.

But when Jin’s perfect kick accidentally knocks the Sacred Sphere out through the gate, he has no choice but to run after it, tumbling out of the realm he calls home and into the human world as the gate closes behind him.

Stuck outside the gate, Jin must find help from unlikely allies, including a girl who can hear a mysterious voice and a worm who claims he is a dragon. Together, they must find the sphere and return it to the world beyond the gate…or risk losing everything.

Award-winning and bestselling author Grace Lin returns with another gorgeously illustrated adventure story about duty, love, and balance—expertly written in the vein of the Newbery Honor winner and modern classic Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Based on Chinese Folklore, this beautiful novel features ten full-page pieces of stunning full-color art, as well as intricate chapter header illustrations.

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On Sale: May 6, 2025
Page Count: 352 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780316478328

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Preorder THE GATE, THE GIRL, AND THE DRAGON from participating locations to receive a signed art print.

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Book Club Guide

Gongshi are tasked with caring for people. If you were a Gongshi, who or what would you want to look after? How do characters care for one another over the course of the story? What do you think it means to be part of a community?
Throughout the book, characters tell stories within the larger story. Which one of these stories was your favorite? What did you learn from it? How do these shorter stories relate to the story of Jin, Lulu, and the Sacred Sphere? Why are stories important?
Ba tells Jin that “each thread of connection is important” (p. 16). What do you think Ba means by this? How does this idea of connectivity appear in the rest of the book?
At the start of the book Jin and Ba have different ideas about what is most important. Who do you agree with? Do you think parents and children see the world differently? Why?
Jin and Lulu both want their fathers to see them, but not in the same way. What does it mean to be seen? What does it mean to believe in someone or something? What does it mean to have hope?
The Worm tells Jin that “the goddess smiles down upon the one who takes care of a bridge so it never had a hole in the first place” (p. 128). How can you take care of the world around you?
How are the Dragon and the Worm different from one another? How do they treat other characters differently? Who would you be more likely to trust? Why?
In the end, the Worm says, “there is no end…there is only change” (p. 329). What does it mean to change? How do Jin and other characters change throughout the book?
Who was your favorite character? What did you like most about them?
In her Author’s Note, Grace Lin talks about growing ideas and how she “combined ideas together to create this new story” (p. 340). Where do your ideas come from? How do you think you can grow them into something new?

Grace Lin

About the Author

Grace Lin is the award-winning and bestselling author and illustrator of Chinese Menu, When the Sea Turned to Silver, Starry River of the Sky, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Rat, Dumpling Days, and Ling & Ting,as well as picture books such as The Ugly Vegetables, A Big Bed for Little Snow, and A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Grace is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in Massachusetts. Her website is http://www.gracelin.com.

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