By Cressida Cowell, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $10.99, 256 pages

10She’s done it again! A seventh book in the smash-hit series; How to Train Your Dragon; How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm, Cressida Cowell comes up with yet another fantastically and creatively-inspired dragon tale that does not disappoint. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third’s family tribe is participating in a fun swimming race with three other tribes: the Murderous Tribe, the Hairy Hooligans and the Bog-Burglars. It turns into a seriously dangerous, death-defying race with a backward twist; the last Viking to return is the winner. At the last minute, before the race begins, Old Wrinkly gives Hiccup a ticking-thing set for three months, five days and six hours so he will win this swimming race. Hiccup, Fishlegs and Camicazi are reluctantly set on another exciting and desperate adventure.

Cowell’s ability to captivate her audience with plot, dialogue and ingenuity is mesmerizing. She weaves the story in such a way to keep those pages turning at a breast-stroke pace wondering how Hiccup will get out of each ordeal and back to save his family. Her imagination is to be praised! It is no wonder that this series is such a wildly successful endeavor!

Reviewed by M. Chris Johnson,