STEVE HOCKENSMITH is the New York Times-bestselling author or co-author of 10 books, most recently the Nick and Tesla series of middle-grade mysteries. CHRIS KIENTZ is the writer and producer of the international award-winning Smithsonian Channel television production Raven Tales. LEE NIELSEN is an animator, illustrator, concept artist, and designer.
BOOKLIST
Middle-school classmates Dominique, Eric, Josephine, and Ajay
return home from their first Smithsonian time-travel adventure to
find dinosaurs all over their neighborhoods. When they return to
the Smithsonian, the Museum of Natural History is now the Museum of
Extinction. They go back in time to the 1876 Philadelphia
Exhibition, where they discover the dastardly Barris brothers have
brought live dinosaur eggs from the past. The friends enlist the
help of William Foulke, a young Nellie Bly, and Alexander
Graham
Bell to stop the Barris’ plot. This volume provides another
rollicking adventure with colorful art, a diverse cast, and fun
details, such as the introduction of root beer, in 1876. The book
includes more information about Foulke and his dinosaur at the
Philadelphia Exhibition, but readers will likely want to learn more
about Nellie Bly, since the kids hint at her future as a
journalist. Hopefully, readers will see that history is so much
more than a bunch of facts and figures as they learn about
dinosaurs and fossil hunting in nineteenth-century America.
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
Gr 5-8–Schoolmates Dominique, Eric, Josephine, and Ajay return from
their first time-travel adventure to find that dinosaurs are alive
and well in the modern age and roaming their neighborhoods. The
kids head back to the Smithsonian to figure out why, and they find
that the National Museum of Natural History has undergone a name
change: it’s now known as the Museum of Extinction. The only way to
sort out the problems in the present is to travel to the past, so
the schoolmates go to the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition, where the
Barris brothers are planning to profit from selling dinosaur eggs.
Enlisting the help of notable historical figures such as Alexander
Graham Bell, Nellie Bly, and William Foulke, the children set
history back on course. The pacing is reminiscent of children’s
television programming. The artwork has a cartoon style that will
appeal to the intended audience in its animation-inspired look and
layout. The technology and time-travel rules are not fully
explained in this volume, so readers will want to be familiar with
the first installment. This is a series that should be read in
order of publication and one that should be purchased in its
entirety. The characterizations require readers to suspend
disbelief a bit, as the children are all-knowing in many subject
areas, from dinosaurs to historical figures. This graphic novel
would be a great read-alike for fans of David Shapiro’s “Terra
Tempo” graphic novel series and may be a good fit for “Magic Tree
House” fans to grow into. VERDICT Highly recommended for those
seeking titles that incorporate STEM themes. A solid purchase for
both school and public library collections of all sizes.–Samantha
Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
"Fantastic for elementary-aged kids who love adventure, museums,
history, or time travel." -GeekDad
FOREWORD
Combining the colonial with the cretaceous, co-authors Chris Kentz
and Steve Hockensmith cook up a smart new adventure in Claws and
Effect. On their way home from the Smithsonian National Air and
Space Museum—and first-time travel experience—classmates Ajay,
Josephine, Eric, and Dominique can’t help but notice that their
neighborhood is overrun with dinosaurs, and no one seems concerned.
Using data access retrieval conduits, or “DARCs,” in the shape of
wristwatches, the gang is sent back in time to America’s first
World’s Fair in Philadelphia, 1876, where “someone’s messing with
history.”
Picking up where The Wrong Wrights: Secret Smithsonian Adventures
#1 left off, Claws and Effect jumps right into action that follows
the continuous trail of destruction left by the greedy Barris
brothers and their scheming cohorts, this time centered around the
National Museum of Natural History. With a little assistance from
some “hypno-glass” and fellow fair-goers Alexander Graham Bell and
a young Nellie Bly, the dangerous repercussions of shifted time are
slowly set to rights.
Containing enough dinosaur facts and trivia to appease even the
most hardcore Jurassic fans, a counterbalance is found in the
historical connection to William Foulke, and the rise of
paleontology and future fossil finders, giving the story a broader
scope and perspective. Illustrations from Lee Nielson, in the
classic graphic-novel style, further meld the clothing and styles
of the late 1800s with prehistoric visitors and a group of
thoroughly modern middle schoolers. An entertaining and imaginative
adventure with brains, the Secret Smithsonian Adventure series is
sure to please students and teachers alike.
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