The Dragon of Cripple Creek

"Show us the gold, Kat! Show us the gold!" Katlin Graham's passion for gold and adventure has steered her family into the rowdy, historical town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. True to her curiosity streak, she strays from the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine tour to explore a closed-off tunnel, and after an accidental fall, discovers a breathtaking secret: Deep below the mine lives a dragon--the last dragon on earth. Ye is his name, and he inhabits a glittering wonderland, surrounded by heaps of gold. Seeing the gold as the solution to her family's financial woes, Kat steals a nugget as big as her fist, right under Ye's watchful eye. Kindly befriending Kat, Ye tells her the astounding truth about gold, and reveals a mysterious cure that prevents dragons from dying. As the ailing Ye shows her the way out, Kat realizes it's up to her to decide his fate. Back in the sunlit world, where the search for the missing girl has created a public stir, Kat's nugget rolls out for all to see. Now a media-frenzy begins, until the town is swarming with gold seekers. Alarmed by this stampede of greed and by her own thievery, Kat brings her brother, Dillon, into her plan to return Ye's gold to him, and to warn him of the dangers that threaten his life and treasure. Can they outwit the gold-crazed crowds? Will Ye live, or will he die?

This delightful debut novel from children's book illustrator Troy Howell is a heart-warming adventure about all that glitters versus all that matters. Never before have the American West and ancient dragons been rolled together into one wild, tumbleweed tale.