Kat Graham's passion for adventure has steered her family into the rowdy Gold Rush 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 discovers a breathtaking secret...

Deep below the mine lives an ailing dragon—the last dragon on Earth—named Ye. He inhabits a glittering wonderland, surrounded by heaps of gold. Ye tells Kat the astounding truth about gold and reveals a mysterious cure that prevents dragons from dying. As Ye shows her the way out, Kat can't fight the temptation to snatch a nugget of gold.

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. A media frenzy begins, and soon the town is swarming with gold seekers. Ashamed of the stampede of greed sparked by her own thievery, Kat plans to return Ye's gold to him and possibly save his life.

This humorous and poignant debut novel from illustrator Troy Howell is a heart-stirring 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.

From the dust jacket