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    The Mark of the Dragonfly
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    The Mark of the Dragonfly
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    The Mark of the Dragonfly
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Mark of the Dragonfly

    Written by Jaleigh Johnson

    Narrated by Kim Mai Guest

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    For fans of Frozen, The City of Ember, and The School of Good and Evil, the New York Times bestseller The Mark of the Dragonfly is a fast-paced adventure story about a mysterious girl and a fearless boy, set in a magical world that is both exciting and dangerous.

    Piper has never seen the Mark of the Dragonfly until she finds the girl amid the wreckage of a caravan in the Meteor Fields.

    The girl doesn't remember a thing about her life, but the intricate tattoo on her arm is proof that she's from the Dragonfly Territories and that she's protected by the king. Which means a reward for Piper if she can get the girl home.

    The one sure way to the Territories is the 401, a great old beauty of a train. But a ticket costs more coin than Piper could make in a year. And stowing away is a difficult prospect--everyone knows that getting past the peculiar green-eyed boy who stands guard is nearly impossible.

    Life for Piper just turned dangerous. A little bit magical. And very exciting, if she can manage to survive the journey.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 25, 2014
    ISBN9780804167079
    Unavailable
    The Mark of the Dragonfly
    Author

    Jaleigh Johnson

    JALEIGH JOHNSON is a fantasy author living and writing in the wilds of the Midwest. Her middle grade debut novel The Mark of the Dragonfly is a New York Times bestseller, and her other books from Delacorte Press include The Secrets of Solace, The Quest to the Uncharted Lands, and The Door to the Lost. In addition to the Marvel novel Triptych for Aconyte books, she has written several novels and short stories for the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms fiction line published by Wizards of the Coast. Johnson is an avid gamer and lifelong geek.

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    Reviews for The Mark of the Dragonfly

    4/5

    70 ratings22 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Mark of the Dragonfly tells the story of Piper. Piper is a young girl living on an unknown planet far from anything familiar to the reader. She lives in Scrap Town 16 where she makes her living scavenging “junk” from the meteors that rain down from the sky and fixing machines. Her father has died while working in the King's factory so Piper is all alone to fend for herself. Piper spends her days with her friend, Micah, also a scrapper but more reckless. everything changes when Piper meets Anna, a girl who has forgotten her past and knows only who to fear – the wolf.

      Knowing only that Anna, who has the mark of the dragonfly tattooed on her wrist, is in danger, Piper decides that they must leave town. They escape the on a old train, the 401. Heading for the Dragonfly Territories, Piper and Anna search for answers, meet new friends, and get into a lot of predicaments.
    • 3/5
      It was okay, definitely a younger version of The Lunar Chronicles. I would recommend to my kids but more towards girls.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful book. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a movie about it.Enjoyable reading that will take you to a different kind of world. Some themes are similar to our nowadays struggles in finding our place in this world. Sometimes being gifted is not everything. We need to break through the chains of our minds and find our keep as well, be confident of our capabilities and skills.Piper, Anna and Gee will take you to discover this and more. This book can teach a lot, prejudice, power struggle, doubts, anger, fear, hope, friendship, family, love and much more. Interesting and outstanding characters.I will keep this book. The cover is so beautiful and well made.Great job Jaleigh Johson.Thank you.
    • 3/5
      It was okay, definitely a younger version of The Lunar Chronicles. I would recommend to my kids but more towards girls.
    • 4/5
      I really loved this book, but it's one of those books where I find I don't have much to say. Which might not make a lot of sense...I can say this is a fantastic middle grade, with steampunk and magical elements. The world building is great and I'm very intrigued by what little Johnson revealed about the world her characters live in and I'm hoping to find out more in the next book. I liked the characters, the pacing was great...I just don't have any stand-out elements to talk about. I highly recommend this for fantasy fans, I just can't quite explain why!
    • 3/5
      An intriguing science fiction fantasy with a steampunk flavor, The Mark of the Dragonfly is adventurous and original. Piper is a strong female character whose mechanical skills serve her well when she is orphaned. Her scrap town offers a meager existence for those who scavenge the debris that falls in dangerous meteor showers from other worlds. When Piper rescues an unconscious girl in the aftermath of one such shower, she begins an adventure that takes them both aboard the infamous 401, a steam locomotive that travels the territories and is protected by a boy who is much more than he seems.

      Determined to return the girl, Anna, to her home and pursued by a stranger claiming to be Anna's father, Piper finds an unusual ally in Gee, the locomotive's security officer. Bonding over attempted kidnappings, air raids and rescues, the three form a friendship and slowly reveal the secrets each is keeping.

      For middle school fans of science fiction and adventures stories, The Mark of the Dragonfly has likable characters, a familiar yet alternate universe, and plenty of action and mystery.
    • 4/5
      Overall I liked this book. The beginning was very strong and immediately caught my attention.
      The characters are unique and well developed, and the action moves at a fast pace.

      The second half of the book was a bit slower. There's still a good story and good action, but it wasn't quite like the beginning.

      Overall I recommend this book to young readers, I think it will be enjoyed by anyone who picks it up.
    • 4/5
      This was a very exciting story about a girl named Piper who has been living on her own in a town where the big business is scrapping, that is, finding scraps of metal and other precious things. These tend to come during meteor storms but the storms are so dangerous that people are required to stay inside. She goes out in one such storm and finds a girl whom she rescues. But the girl has amnesia and is being followed by a fellow survival who claims to be her father. The two girls decide to flee and take refuge on a train. The people on the train are suspicious of the girls but one of them has the mark of the dragonfly, the mark of the king, which requires them to offer the girls safe haven. The only thing I didn't really like about it was that there are a lot of invented creatures and it took awhile to figure that out, but it was super exciting and lots of fun to read.
    • 4/5
      On a resource-constrained world where strange things (music boxes, copies of The Wizard of Oz, etc.) fall out of the sky in toxic meteor storms, a young girl ekes out a living as a scavenger and mechanic, since she has an almost eerie talent for repairing machines. One day, she rescues another girl who’s been caught in one of the deadly meteor showers. The girl has a tattoo marking her as one of the elite, but she has no memory and she’s being hunted by a dangerous man. As Piper seeks to help Anna find her home, she learns about others with special talents and has to choose between loyalty to Anna and everything she’s ever wanted. Satisfying YA.
    • 3/5
      Thanks to Netgalley.com and Random House Children's for access to this title.

      This was a great middle-grades adventure. There was lots of action and danger. I wish there had been a little more eplanation of things falling into their world and why it happens. It started out as a great lead into something, but I was hoping for it to develop into a bigger piece of the story (I know it was the basis for where Anna came from, but it just didn't feel like enough of an explanation for why the world was set up as it was).

      Overall, a decent read, and I'm thinking there will be readers who really love this one.
    • 2/5
      Piper runs off to check on her friend Micah during a meteor storm and ends up finding a girl with a dragon fly tattoo. Anna the girl that Piper finds as no memories and is afraid of the man who comes searching for her called " The Wolf" . They end up on the 401 train and find an unlikely ally there who will go to great lengths to protect them. Anna has a huge secret and Piper's machinist skills is the only thing that will help keep Anna alive.
    • 4/5
      Good science fiction novel for middle-readers with strong female and male characters. Piper, the heroine, is a scrapper who rescues an injured girl, Anna, during a meteor storm and promises to take her home to the city of Noveen, far to the south. Their journey is fraught with danger, laced with excitement, shrouded in mystery, and populated with new friends and old enemies. The plot is fast-paced, the characters and the world of Solace well-built.
    • 4/5
      I would like to thank NetGalley and Delacorte BFYR for the opportunity to read this e-ARC. Although I received the ebook for free, that in no way impacts my review.Fans of The City of Ember will love The Mark of the Dragonfly, an adventure story set in a magical world that is both exciting and dangerous. Piper has never seen the Mark of the Dragonfly until she finds the girl amid the wreckage of a caravan in the Meteor Fields. The girl doesn't remember a thing about her life, but the intricate tattoo on her arm is proof that she's from the Dragonfly Territories and that she's protected by the king. Which means a reward for Piper if she can get the girl home. The one sure way to the Territories is the 401, a great old beauty of a train. But a ticket costs more coin than Piper could make in a year. And stowing away is a difficult prospect--everyone knows that getting past the peculiar green-eyed boy who stands guard is nearly impossible. Life for Piper just turned dangerous. A little bit magical. And very exciting, if she can manage to survive the journey.This is one sweet, magical, story that doesn't lack for action, adventure, and even budding romance. It is ideal for readers from the age of roughly nine to 109. The following four paragraphs cover only some of what happens in about the first eighth of the book! At the tender age of thirteen Piper is something of a mother figure to the few important people in her life. She lives in Scrap Town Sixteen of the Merrow Kingdom, just another refuse heap in life for those lacking power, wealth, and the right connections. When her father was alive he encouraged Piper's desire to tinker with mechanical items, going so far as to buy her the necessary tools, even if it meant he'd have less to eat for a while. Piper has a real knack for mechanical devices, it's what she becomes known for. Solitary by both choice and the nature of her environment, Piper knows many locals by name, but has only one true friend, a younger boy named Micah. And it is Micah who inadvertently begins all of Piper's adventures.Whenever there is a meteor-shower all residents of the scrap towns are supposed to take refuge in an earthen bomb shelter until the shower is over. Not only because of the danger from the falling meteors, but also the risk of breathing in the poisonous dust. Yet the moment the storms have passed everyone scrambles for the meteor field in hopes of finding the best items that have fallen with the meteors - items from other worlds, things the scrappers can sell for profit. Things the scrappers have to sell for profit if they are to survive in such harsh terrain. It's not as if they can farm the land, nor will any factories be built - the meteor showers destroy far more than they deliver.Micah, being younger and smaller than most of the scrappers in their town, has found a way to beat the systems - or so he figures. He doesn't hide out in the shelter with everyone else, instead he books out to the field at the first sign of an oncoming meteor shower and takes refuge under some of the rock ledges. When Piper hears this she's about ready to skin him alive for taking such a risk with his life. What would his parents and older brother Jory do if they lost him? What would she do? He promises not to do it again, but within hours he pulls the same stunt, only this time everyone knows he's missing. No one wants to risk the storm, or the penalty for being out in the storm, to find him. No one but Jory and Piper. Of the two only Piper manages to elude everyone and get outside, ultimately reaching Micah in time for the two of them to watch a caravan trying to cross the field get blown to bits. As soon as it's safe Piper patches Micah's head wound and then takes off to check on the caravan, not that she's anticipating any survivors. Not after that direct hit one of the wagons took. But there may well be something she can salvage and sell. Yet to her surprise she finds an unconscious girl in the remnants of one of the wagons. With Jory helping Micah home, Piper is able to get the girl to her cabin so that she can help her, and figure out what to do with her.Not long after arriving at Piper's small cabin the girl awakens. She doesn't remember much about herself but can, and does, spout off ridiculous amounts of information on an astounding range of topics. It is only after looking in a mirror that she is able to recall her own name, which she says is Anna. When a man comes knocking on Piper's door, clearly a man of means from his clothing, tattered though it is, Anna becomes utterly terrified. She refers to him as the wolf. Piper and Anna barely escape from him, and Piper brings Anna to the 401, their best, and only, shot at getting out of town and away from the man both girls find so frightening. Piper's plan is for the girls to stowaway on the 401, which is a cargo train. A cargo train with a notorious reputation for dealing with stowaways in a less than pleasant manner. From there her hope is to find Anna's family, return her to them, and hopefully collect a large enough reward to set herself up with a whole new life away, one far away from scrap towns.The two girls manage to get on the train, which is when their real adventures begin. What has gone before is nothing in the face of what is to come. . . Slave traders are sicced on the girls, becoming pawns in schemes between the enemy Dragonfly and Merrow Kingdoms (though oddly the 401 is allowed to run through both kingdoms), discoveries about new friends, and of course self-discoveries for both girls. Discoveries that could rock them to their very foundations.As their journey unfolds, so to do the girls' personalities. The more they learn about each other and the other crew members on the 401 the more they begin to change. Piper's dreams of her future change, Anna begins to recall bits and pieces of her life before the wolf, and they quickly begin to build fast friendships with the 401's crew. Friendships that may save their lives, or cost them their lives.This is a refreshing adventure on both physical and emotional levels, and certainly suitable for readers aged 9-10 and up. However don't discount it as being unsuitable for adults either, because that would be doing the story, and yourself, a disfavor. I'm easily old enough to be the mother of these kids and I still truly enjoyed this book. It told an interesting tale without 'talking down' to the reader, had fun twists and turns, and contained several worthwhile lessons about life, acceptance, and friendship. Yet it managed to do all that without ever making me feel as if I, the reader, was intentionally being taught any life lessons or being preached to.
    • 5/5
      I received an advance copy of this book from netgalley(dot)com.Piper lost her father and she is just scraping by. Her ability to fix almost any machine is the only thing keeping her from starving. She longs to get away from her town, but she hasn't been able to save enough money. Then there is a storm and Piper finds a girl in a wagon who is unconscious. She takes her back to her house and fixes her up the best she can. The girl's name is Anna, and someone is desperate to get her back. Anna can't remember anything except she is terrified of the man who is searching for her. Piper makes a snap decision and decides that she will get Anna back home to her family, wherever they might be. Together Anna and Piper must flee the man that is chasing them with a little help from some new found friends. I really liked this book. The world building was done very well without being overwhelming. I love that the main characters weren't perfect. Piper has some (normal) selfish thoughts just like everyone does from time to time. The story was fast paced and exciting.
    • 4/5
      Orphaned Piper is trying to eke out a living in one of the scrap towns that are near the meteor fields. After the meteor storms, people scavenge for items in the fields. Piper has a talent for fixing the unfixable machines that she finds. However, she doesn't know what to do when she finds a young girl who bears the dragonfly tattoo that means she is under the protection of King Aron. She has to heal her and keep her away from the man that she terrifies her.Piper decides that the best thing to do is to take her to Noveen where the king lives. She is initially hoping for the reward which might give her a stake to start a new life. But it doesn't take long for Piper to become Anna's friend. Now her priority is keeping her safe and finding her a place where she can be happy and thrive.Piper is determined to stow away on the 401, a train that passes through the scrap towns. But the train has a number of defenses and a guardian. Gee is a chemelin. In his human form, he is a thirteen year old boy. When he is in his chemelin form he is able to fly with his massive wings and has formidable claws to protect his train. Chemelins are also very loyal to their family and Gee has made the train his family. The girls have lots of adventures on their way to Noveen. They are almost captured by slavers. The train is attacked by sky raiders. And the man chasing Anna who is an adviser to King Aron isn't about to let Anna escape him.The story was a great combination of steampunk and adventure. The characters were well-drawn and interesting. Piper was particularly smart, caring, and brave. The world was well-developed too. I loved the growing friendship between Piper and Anna. I also loved the possible romance between Gee and Piper. Jaleigh Johnson is an author to watch. I can't wait to read more of her books.
    • 4/5
      Dear Random House, I am reviewing The Mark of the Dragonfly. I really liked it. I loved the exiting [sic] and emotional parts. Once I started reading, nothing could make me stop; not even my brothers. I read it in two days, it was so exiting [sic]. I think it is one of those books that no matter how many times you read it, you never get tired of it. I'm going to have to say, The Mark of the Dragonfly is my #1 favorite book! It is so detailed, I could picture every move in my mind.From, Addie Seifried(Another review follows)The Mark of the Dragonfly is a fast-paced fantasy adventure story. It includes steam punk elements, magic, dead parents and a first crush. The three characters learn to become a team and stand by their friends while building healthy character qualities of loyalty, bravery, compassion, etc. While this is a children's book, I was totally drawn into the world, and nothing ever seemed cheesy- which is not always the case. Even though the plot moves along steadily, we get a good look at who the characters are and become drawn to them; connected with their successes and failures. The book leaves itself open to sequels and can serve as a discussion starter on class oppression, over use of natural resources, and war. While the main character is a girl, this book is universal. The cover is even well done with parts of it in gold relief. Some mild violence and the first stirrings of romance make this book accessible to all ages. Definitely a book I 'd recommend.
    • 4/5
      I received an advance review copy of this book and really enjoyed it. The plot is constantly moving and the author introduces some very likeable characters, some of whom are magical creatures. The author also created some different species that brought the book into a cross genre mix of sci-fi/ fantasy/ post apocalyptic fiction that worked well.I really enjoy strong female characters in YA and this book has a nicely constructed one who discovers her true abilities throughout the course of the story. She's a girl who has strong instinctive mechanical talents and can fix almost anything. She also has a strong sense of loyalty, and this makes her both likeable and vulnerable, as there are kingdoms at war and she's caught in the middle.
    • 4/5
      Piper, a young scavenger in this fantasy, futuristic world, finds a survivor after a meteorite fall. But who is this young girl with The Mark of the Dragonfly? And why is she terrified of the man who claims to be her father? Piper and Anna, the dragonfly girl, flee the man and hop onto a train to the Capitol. Now the adventure truly begins..and the story of friendship. Many surprises and twists along the way keep the story interesting. Middle school students who enjoy fantasy, futuristic stories will enjoy this story.
    • 4/5
      Piper is a young scavenger and machinist, with an uncanny skill with machines. In Piper's world, frequent meteor showers bring fragments of other-world technology hurtling to the ground, accompanied by a poisonous dust. When the dust clears, scrappers like Piper rush to snatch up the fragments, and occasionally something that they find can be repaired and sold for a profit. Since her father died, Piper dreams of escaping the scrap towns and finding a better job as a machinist in a big city, but she knows that escape will take more money than she is ever likely to see. Then, one night, one of Piper's friends foolishly ventures out during a meteor shower, and Piper goes after him. Out in the meteor fields, Piper is amazed to see a caravan coming through, despite the danger. When the caravan is hit by a huge meteor, Piper's friend is injured. Piper rushes to the remains of the caravan, hoping to find medical supplies. What she finds there is a girl of about her own age, alive but unconscious. Piper manages to drag both her friend and the mysterious girl back to her home -- but when a menacing stranger comes looking for the girl, Piper makes a split-second decision to run. The girl, named, Anna, bears the mark of the dragonfly, granting her the same level of protection as members of the king's household. Piper assumes that she will be handsomely rewarded if she can return Anna to her family. The two girls stow away on the 401, a steam engine that carries supplies through the scrap towns to the capital city. But the 401 is guarded by Gee, a boy with mysterious powers -- and the journey will be more dangerous than any of them could have imagined.This was a good story, but not a great one. I think that its target audience of tweens and young teens will enjoy the friendships that grow between the characters, as well as the fantasy and steampunk elements. I found that there were a few holes in the worldbuilding that distracted me from fully enjoying the story, but perhaps the things that bothered me will be more fully explained in future volumes, as I am fairly sure that this is intended as the first book in a series.
    • 4/5
      A wonderful adventure-fantasy book with some spunky main characters! I love the "abilities" of the misfit crew. The reader ends up cheering for the characters and there is enough background info that could be expanded into a sequel, not to mention the possibility of the next leg of the journey. Overall, a feel-good middle grades novel about what family truly means. Recommended.Net Galley Feedback
    • 4/5
      The Mark of the Dragonfly is a fantasy adventure for Middle Schoolers that is to be published March 25, 2014. I received an early ebook to review through NetGalley. In this world the opposing two governments on this continent are so intent on building machines to allow them to dominate one another that they neglect their citizens. In this dystopian world, meteor storms occur at the time of the full moon, dropping all kinds of mysterious objects which apparently originate in other worlds, onto cratered fields in barren areas. Sometimes items are broken beyond repair, but occasionally the repaired items can serve to put a meal on the table of the one lucky enough to find it. The poor and struggling citizens wait on the edge of the fields, ready to scavenge through the artifacts as soon as the meteors quit falling and the dangerous dust settles. They are looking for salvage that markets and museum curators might be willing to buy from the poor and hungry scrap town residents. Piper is a young thirteen year old orphan who lives in the house her father had left for her when he went south to work in a factory. The job eventually took his life, but not before he had taught Piper how to repair and rebuild all kinds of machines and mechanical objects. She is able to supplement her income with this particular skill. In fact she seems to have a special affinity for all things mechanical, but she doesn't recognize the significance of this gift at first.Early in the story, she follows her friend Micah into the field while the meteors are still falling. Micah is injured so Piper runs to a caravan on the other side of the field that has also gambled that they could get through the meteor shower without injury. Piper is hoping to find first aid items to help her injured friend when she discovers a mysterious young girl in the wreckage. Piper is able to get the unconscious girl to her home and Micah to his family's home where his brother will watch after him. She hurries back to her own home to check on the girl. She rouses but can't give Piper any information about herself other than her name, Anna. She has amnesia, but Piper is shocked to see an elaborate dragonfly tattoo on the girl's arm that indicates that she is under the protection of the king of the Southern Kingdom. In a very short time, a mysterious stranger, who was apparently also injured in the meteor storm is pounding on Piper's door. He implies that he is Anna's father, but she is obviously terrified of him. Piper manages to disarm the man and she and Anna knock him unconscious, enabling their escape.Piper believes their only hope is to board the supply train secretly, since she has no money to buy a ticket. The train is covered with defensive hardware to prevent this, but Piper is somehow able to disable the defenses temporarily and board the train. She is hoping that there will be a reward for the return of this mysterious girl who is under the king's protection. But boarding the train is only the beginning of this adventure. Before long Piper cares enough about Anna that she is ashamed she had originally hoped for a reward and intends to protect her at all costs. The Security Manager on the train is at first skeptical of these two dirty and desperate girls, but soon we find that there is much more to him than meets the eye. Before long, several of the train employees are working together to help the girls and save them from whatever unknown fate awaits them if they fall into the hands of the mysterious man who pursues them with a vengeance.An exciting adventure, lots of twists and turns in the plot, some magic, some sorcery, some otherworldly creatures inhabiting this world as well. The girls are strong protagonists who learn that they are capable of much more than what they had thought possible. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to young fantasy adventure fans.
    • 4/5
      This novel is a steampunk fantasy book.Piper lives in Scrap Town #16 and is a scrapper. Every day the sky opens and meteors fall while the inhabitants wait in shelters underground. When the storm dies out, the scrappers run to the fields to see what came from the sky. Objects are found, restored, and sold. The people are poor and hungry. When Micah, Piper’s friend, isn’t in the shelter, Piper runs out in the storm to find him. He’s hiding beneath a rock outcropping. It’s very dangerous to stay outside, so Piper is upset that Micah could get hurt.While waiting out the storm, Micah sees a caravan arriving, which is a crazy thing to do during a meteor storm. A meteor hits them. When the storm is over, Micah is injured, so Piper tries to transport him home to get help. She also finds a girl, Anna, who was in the caravan barely alive whom she takes home. A strange man appears at her house and is amazed that Anna is okay. Anna seems to fear him, so Piper won’t let him near her. Anna has the mark of the dragonfly, which means she is protected by the King. Piper decides to take Anna to the King’s court in Noveen to get a reward for bringing her home. They board the 401 train by cutting the canvas and sneaking on. A green-eyed boy, Gee, who is the head security is angry and wants to set them aside. He can’t because Anna has the mark of the dragonfly. They are giving the nicest car and begin their journey.The train ride is dangerous as they try to go through the country and avoid dangers. Strange magical things happen around Piper that she’s never noticed. Gee is also more than he appears. Anna becomes like a sister to Piper, so she doesn’t feel like she can leave her without knowing she is safely being cared for.Many things are left unresolved, which makes me think there will be subsequent books although it could end here. It was an engaging book but not so much that I want another book. The ending was weak but, overall, it was a fairly pleasant book.