Iris and the Dragonflies was a fun, engaging read that would be good for middle graders. Iris is a social outcast. She is much more interested in hanging out by the stream and observing the wildlife there than spending time in school. The dragonflies talk to her but no one, except maybe her teacher at school believes her. Her mother is supportive but thinks she has too much imagination. Her father is abrupt and dismisses the possibility that Iris is telling the truth. Her older sister is mean and constantly puts Iris down. She has only one friend and Grace is a shy, withdrawn girl herself.The summer between fifth and sixth grade Iris travels with her family to visit her grandmother in Ireland. There she explores an old castle, learns old stories that might be true from her grandmother and her grandmother's caretaker Cormac, and discovers a hidden dragon tooth. The stories are about dragons and ancient priestesses who protected the Earth from those who would exploit it. Iris comes back home with even more questions than she started with considering that she could see the past when she touched the castle walls.When sixth grade begins Iris and Grace make new friends - Luciano from Italy, Anming from China, Karishma from India, and Jabulani from Tanzania. They work on a project together to save Iris' Dragonfly Creek from developers who want to destroy it. The kids have to deal with a mayor who seems for sale to the highest bidder, the class bullies - Timmy and Tommy, the evil development company, and the secretive Mr. Fretghar who seems to know more about Iris than she told him.I thought the characters were well-drawn. They reminded me of a lot of the middle schoolers I work with every day. I liked that Iris was concerned about the earth but was also kid enough to almost throw a tantrum when things didn't go her way. I also liked the way the kids worked together to solve the problem. I thought both the magic and the ecological message were well-integrated into the story. And I really liked that the grown-up characters who were there to help the kids were a teacher and a librarian. There is enough adventure in this one to satisfy the adventure lover and enough fantasy for the fantasy lover. There are enough real middle grade issues - bullies, first crushes, and school rivalries - to satisfy the realistic fiction fans. And while the story doesn't end on a cliffhanger, there are still unresolved issues that will have kids looking for the next book. I will be looking forward to a sequel to this story myself.
