Ryan Estrada's latest work is absolutely hilarious and superbly entertaining. This action packed advanture story is a must read. As far as the writing style and narration is concerned, it is absolutely fantastic. The way author has wevaed the story with the mastery of writing style and narration, it is truly commendable. Overall, it was a great experience. I highly recommend this work and give it full 5 stars for the writing, narration and overall presentation. Happy Reading.

Prose (Story): When eight-year-old student ambassador Joseph Bazan wins a chance to meet the President of the United States, his positive energy and spirit so impress the leader of the free world, when Joseph solves a major trade issue, within minutes, the young boy finds himself further entrusted with a visit far overseas to a boy king his own age, Nang Nukatau III, who has just taken over his country after the death of his father - and now has his kingdom on the verge of war. Joseph arrives to find a bratty, insensitive and unyielding little dictator ... but when the palace is attacked the evening if their big "slumber party" both boys soon find themselves being chased across South Korea and then Japan, trying to escape some desperate bad guys wanting the young king, even as they also seek to learn the secret of the Missing Dragon, and why it's so important to the future of the world.

Don's (Review): I absolutely LOVED this fun and funny graphic novel; Joseph is a cool, level-headed average kid caught up in an extremely odd situation, and while not the best student he is quite bright and courageous - and wholly patient, at least at first, with King Nang, who doesn't take too well to suddenly being thrust into a world where everyone around him isn't bowing and scraping to his orders (some of the funniest moments in the book). Good action, a good mystery, formidable bad guys, lots of humor (even of the sarcastic variety, thank goodness), and the bickering friendship that develops between the two boys - it all works, combining with great art by Axur Eneas that had me smiling and running through the pages, only to re-read the thing again anyway, once I'd finished. Hugely recommended for anyone - kid or adult - seeking a good action story mixed with humor and some terrific subtext about the importance of friendship. Hopefully this is the start of a series, as it seems; I am so in for the long haul! 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Funny adventure about a student ambassador who gets himself mixed up in a coup attempt. Silly in the best ways, Joseph and Nang go from strangers/adversaries to friends over the course of the book. Author Ryan Estrada really conveys his love for Korean comics and culture in the book. Hand it to kids who love manga, comics and fun adventure.

Student Ambassador: The Missing Dragon is a humor graphic novel filled with adventure and a mini mystery. Best of all, in-between all the action and laughs, the reader will even learn some Korean!

There were a lot of random conveniences, and the book really stretches believability, but if you just set that aside, this book is just simply fun.

My Thoughts:

- This book is absolutely filled with adorable kid logic. It’s just so freaking cuuuuute. This occasionally led to scenes where I felt a bit like it was too easy how he solved the problems, and it was hard to believe that no one had thought to do something similar before. Still, true to kid logic, there are definitely moments where I was like, yeah, I can see no one trying the very simple, obvious thing in front of them. For kids, I think this will strike a chord with them about looking at life a little differently and finding the simple solutions. They’re still entrenched in their own kid logic, obviously. For older readers, this is a reminder to always think outside the box and have a curiosity about the world.

- There’s a lot of subtle or tongue-in-cheek humor in this book, and I absolutely loved it! There were definitely times where I had to laugh out loud, but I just couldn’t help it. Some of the comedic timing in the panels was just so perfect and so honest. The book is a nice blend of adventure, humor, and learning, where none of them felt too overdone, but they nicely complemented each other.

- Nang is a super fun character, because he’s the epitome of spoiled privilege, but also sort of a victim in his own right. After all, he’s just a kid, and he’s expected to rule a country after his parents’ untimely demise. It’s a lot of pressure to put on someone. Due to his status, he’s been doted on his entire life and always taught that he was the most important thing. He’s used to taking what he wants, as kids do, because there’s never any real consequences for him. This really comes back to the great life lessons the book sneakily packs in, because Nang has to learn to think of someone other than himself and how to not be … well … spoiled? It’s a work in progress, that’s for sure, but there’s lessons to be learned along the way, which led to some surprisingly touching scenes!

A funny, weird story of a student ambassador who ends up working like a real ambassador, when the US government finds that they can't negotiate with the nine year old king of a small country.

Nang and Joe start off just having a sleeping party, but when assassins come, they have to flee the palace, and wide up in South Korea, where assassins are still following them.

It is a crazy adventure story, made crazier because Nang doesn't know how to be a kid, and expects to be treated like the royalty that he is.

Fun, fast pace, and a good story.

Thanks to Netgalley form making this book available for an honest review.

Love the illustrations in this! They were super colorful and engaging. It was extremely cute, a fun concept and a very quick read. I'm hoping to pick up more work by this author soon.

Great book for older elementary kids, with an action-filled story and realistic details about politics and diplomacy. Joseph wins a student ambassador contest and gets to meet the president, but soon finds himself on a real diplomatic mission. Joseph is a fun character, who uses his wits, observation of details, and knowledge he's picked up along the way (like basic Korean) to get himself and new friend the boy-king Nang out of trouble.

'Student Ambassador #1: The Missing Dragon' by Ryan Estrada with illustrations by Axur Eneas is a graphic novel for young readers about an unlikely friendship.

Joseph Bazan becomes a student ambassador and that takes him on some amazing adventures, like calming a pool of crocodiles or hiding under the president's desk. He gets sent to solve a diplomatic crisis with a child leader in another land. Joseph and the young king find themselves on the run and becoming friends along the way.

This was a pretty fun story and I think young readers would have a blast reading it. The art is fun too!

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Iron Circus Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review

I really liked this comic. I thought it was very funny but yet still serious. I remember applying to be a student ambassador myself at my Uni a year ago. As much as I am happy I didn't get in, this comic made me somehow want to apply again hahaha.
I really liked the main character in this. I thought I would end up finding him annoying but that wasn't the case at all! I actually really liked him and thought it was fun to follow his stories.
I also really enjoyed that there were so many cultures int his comic I think it added something nice to the whole thing.

Student Ambassador: The Missing Dragon was my first granted wish and I’m so happy I got to read it. It’s funny, witty, and really diverse.

The story is action-packed, which is perfect for middle grade. It’s definitely the kind of books that will keep kids on their toes as they read it.

The characters are really diverse. Joseph, the main character, is half Mexican. Joseph and Nang travel through Korea and Japan. There’s even a section where Joseph teaches Nang how to read Korean because Joseph’s babysitter is Korean and she taught him.

The humor in this story was great. I found myself laughing out loud several times. It’s such an out-there and ridiculous story, which makes it even more perfect for Middle Grade.

I’m so happy my wish was granted. I’m going to buy a copy of this story for my cousins because they love action-adventure books and this is one I could definitely see them reading in a day.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the target audience for this middle grade graphic novel. That being said, I enjoyed this quite a bit and it's something I would want my future children to read.

Ryan Estrada came up with a great idea and a fun main character. Joseph Bazan is smart but he's still very child like without talking down to the young audience. The plot is far fetched but hey, this is a graphic novel for kids, so its to be expected.

This is about 8-year-old Joseph Bazan who becomes a student ambassador and gets to meet the President. The President likes Joseph and sends him to help negotiate with a boy king in a country on the brink of war.

This was cute, fun, and utterly enjoyable. If Estrada does a second, I know I'll want to read it. It's a very culturally diverse story that is a very positive read for a young kid.

Joseph is a student ambassador who won an essay contest and gets to meet the President of the US. While in the Oval Office he manages to help the President negotiate a treaty with Canada that has been causing headaches. The President has another headache in the form of the child king of East Rhutar who won’t listen to reason, and gets the brilliant idea to send Joseph to see if he can help work things out. But Joseph may have bitten off more than he bargained for when bad guys come during his sleepover with the king and the two boys find themselves stranded in another foreign country with bad guys after them.

This was a very fun concept (and one wonders if world politics couldn’t sometimes use the help of some children to cut through the ridiculous red tape and big egos to negotiate agreements). The adventure is fun. Both of the boys learn things. Readers will get to learn how to read the Korean alphabet through the process if they don’t know it already (the boys are stranded in Korea) and get a tour of a Korean historic site. And there’s plenty of excitement sprinkled with a healthy dose of humor. I hope there are more in this series. Students at my school will eat this up.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues or sexual content. The boys get in sticky situations but no one is every really hurt.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was in the process of trying to slim down the book order I was placing. Student Ambassador: The Missing Dragon was on that list and I remembered I hadn't read the ARC yet. Thankfully, I read the ARC, because omg, I absolutely have to have this book on our shelves! It's so much fun! It is absolutely full of the sort of weird humor that is exactly kid humor and the art is just delightful. Highly suggested purchase for all libraries who serve middle grade populations!

I thought this was an offbeat satirical story which, though, pitched for children, could easily be enjoyed by adults.

When Joseph wins an essay contest and gets to visit the President of the US, he suddenly finds himself acting as Ambassador for US Relations, first solving an issue with Canada and then being sent overseas to work with a child dictator. Nang is king now but doesn’t know how to be a good ruler. He has plenty of servants and a strong army but he has no friends.
When he and Joseph survive a break in, fire and adventure, they both learn new things about themselves and each other.
Superbly drawn and told, this would be perfect for Year 5 and 6 classes!

Student Ambassador: The Missing Dragon is a colorful and boldly illustrated adventure story with some political layers. I can see this book being an ideal match for an upper elementary/middle grades reader. Plenty of content to dig into, plenty of story to enjoy. All in all, a fun read.