The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Lee, Yoon Ha. Dragon Pearl. Disney Book Group, New York, NY, 2019. Kindle AZW file.

Min is a young teenager who is going about her life on a rural property in Jinju. It is a poor planet, and life there is difficult. The planet was scheduled for terraforming that would have improved the lives of the population, but the dragon spirit Hae disappeared with the Dragon Pearl and no one knows why. Min lives with her mother, two aunts, and some cousins. Min feels she is unfairly expected to repair and maintain things, such as their hydroponic system, and that no one appreciates the work she does. She dislikes aspects of her life, including being in such close quarters with her cousins. Min and her older brother Jun have been very close. They have dreamed of traveling together to every one of the 1,000 planets in their realm. Jun has begun living that dream as a cadet of the Thousand Worlds Space Forces and Min plans to join as soon as she reaches the minimum age, 17.

What few people know about Min's family is that they are fox spirits. Most supernatural creatures are generally accepted but no one trusts the foxes. Min knows Jun would have kept that hidden as a member of the military. One day, their normal routines are interrupted by the arrival of a man who presents himself as a military official. He says Jun has abandoned his duties and hopes Min can decipher Jun's last message to help find him. Min immediately knows Jun would not have left of his own free will. She makes hasty decisions and winds up fighting with the official, then disguises herself as her older cousin and runs away to Hongok with the hope of catching passage to the Fourth Colony, a haunted place where Jun disappeared.

Min has a chance encounter with a cousin she did not know existed and a brief taste of the luxurious life some people live. She manipulates the situation and gets aboard the spaceship, the Red Azalea. They have a run-in with mercenaries. Min ends up aboard the Pale Lightning, the same ship Jun had been on board. A young cadet named Jang dies in the fight with the mercenaries, and he agrees to let Min take over his life if she searches for information about his death. Min settles into life as a cadet though she feels bad that she is misleading Jang's friends, Sujin and Haneul. Min occasionally uses her fox powers in her search for information about Jang's death and about Jun's disappearance, briefly joining forces with three mercenaries in the process.

Min finds out that Pale Lightning Captain Hwan (who is a tiger spirit) has been searching for the Dragon Pearl because he believes it can be a weapon. She winds up in the ghost realm of the Fourth Colony with Sujin and Haneul, and discovers that the dragon spirit Hae had planned to use the Dragon Pearl for her personal glory. The ghosts of the Fourth Colony have become angry and vengeful and Min makes two important discoveries there: she finds the Dragon Pearl and Jun's ghost. Min uses the Dragon Pearl to turn the entire planet into a tomb, thereby settling the ghosts down to a peaceful transition to the next world.

Jun is the only ghost who remains. Min and Jun travel back to the Pale Lightning, then return to Jinju. The official who had first approached Min to help find Jun now reveals he is a government official. He hires Min as an operative, agreeing that Jun can remain with her. Together, they return home where Min's mother is relieved to have her family together, even though Jun is a ghost. Min knows she and Jun will soon begin traveling together, setting out to fulfill their dream of visiting every one of the 1,000 planets.