The Escape of the Deadly Dinosaur: USA (Secret Agent Jack Stalwart Series #1)

by Elizabeth Singer Hunt

Overview

In The Escape of the Deadly Dinosaur, Jack zooms to the city that never sleeps to try to solve the mystery of the missing Allosaurus toe. Starting at the Natural History Museum, Jack's detection takes him to a competitive grade-schooler determined to win the science fair with his experiment crossing his own dog with the DNA from the bone of a dangerous, carnivorous dinosaur. Soon the gargantuan creature is terrorizing New Yorkers and Jack must stop him before he devours the animals in the Central Park zoo!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781602860049
Publisher:	Weinstein Books
Publication date:	09/04/2007
Series:	Secret Agent Jack Stalwart Series , #1
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	77,609
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	760L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Singer Hunt is the author of the wildly popular Secret Agent Jack Stalwart series for younger readers. The series has been named a 'must read' for boys by the British Education Secretary and was selected for inclusion in the Richard and Judy Children's Book Club (UK; 2007). Recently, it was serialized by the BBC Radio 4's Big Toe Books program.

The author lives with her family in northern California. For more information about Elizabeth and the Jack Stalwart series, visit www.jackstalwart.com.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2–4—Global Protection Force secret agent Jack Stalwart is only nine years old, but that doesn't stop him from travelling the world and thwarting evil. In his first adventure (Weinstein Books, 2007) in the series by Elizabeth Singer Hunt, Jack's mission is to investigate the theft of an Allosaurus bone, but he must contend with a new set of problems when he realizes that the pilferer has cloned the dinosaur. Now Jack must stop the raging Allosaurus before it destroys New York City. This story contains some implausible situations that detract from its enjoyment. Even the most forgiving listeners will raise their eyebrows at how the adults in the story kowtow to a young boy. Also, Jack's endless supply of convenient gadgets renders him a sort of lazy hero; he never has to think his way out of danger, because he already has a device to diffuse the situation. These flaws might be forgivable if the narration ratcheted up the story to Jurassic Park-like intensity, but the performance is actually quite bland. Long pauses between sentences make the tale plod along, even as the Allosaurus chases Jack through the city. Also, Jack's British accent comes across only half the time, and comical rather than ferocious dinosaur noises contribute to the overall mediocrity of the presentation. Instead, steer listeners to The 39 Clues series.—Amy Holland, Irondequoit Public Library, Evans Branch, Rochester, NY

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