Chronal Engine

December 15, 2011
A Back to the Future–style romp through time, though with more loose ends than a bowl of spaghetti. Hardly have teen twins Kyle and Emma and their younger brother (and narrator) Max arrived for a stay at their reclusive grandfather's Texas ranch than the old man announces that he's about to have a massive heart attack, shows them a working time machine in the basement and sends them out to a nearby paleontological site where they find fossilized sneaker prints among the dinosaur tracks. Then a stranger grabs Emma and vanishes in a flash of light--leaving the remaining sibs and a ranch hand's bow-wielding daughter Petra to zoom in a Volkswagen Beetle back 70 million–plus years to the rescue. Not only does the late Cretaceous landscape turn out to be well stocked with crocodilian Deinosuchus and other toothy predators, a human gent falsely (as it turns out) claiming to be a refugee from 1919 steps out of the bushes to guide the others to the evidently dino-proof frame house in which Emma is being held. Everyone steams back to the present on the kidnapper's motor launch, which is also fitted out as a time machine. Showing blithe disregard for potential paradoxes, the author sheds enough light on his byzantine back story to ensure that the protagonists will be taking more trips through time and closes with notes on dinosaurs and on the history of "Robinsonades." Action and enthusiasm aplenty, but, like most time-travel tales, not much for internal logic. (recommended reading) (Science fiction. 10-12)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2012

Gr 5-8-Think Survivor and Robinson Crusoe, with a helping of Jurassic Park and a seasoning of The Time Machine. Max, 14, and his older brother and sister, twins Kyle and Emma, are staying at their reclusive grandfather's ranch near the Colorado River while their mom is off studying dinosaurs in Mongolia. As soon as they arrive, Grandpa tells them that Emma will be kidnapped, he will have a heart attack, and he has a time machine in the basement. Max and Kyle climb into a souped-up VW Bug and head back into the Cretaceous period, along with Petra, the housekeeper's daughter. Chaos ensues. Can they survive this ancient world with its many dangers? Who is the mysterious Samuel and why was Emma kidnapped in the first place? There's not a lot of character development, but who has time to be indulging in a lot of teen angst when you're running from a T. rex? A long author's note offers suggestions for further reading, both about dinosaurs and Robinson Crusoe read-alikes. The short length, breathless pace, and graphic-novel-esque, full-page illustrations might make this one appealing to reluctant readers, and there's nothing inappropriate for younger readers.-Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
Grades 4-6 Siblings Max, Kyle, and Emma are sent off to spend some time with their strange hermit grandfather. He's weird, all rightespecially when he refuses dessert because in fifteen minutes the ambulance will be here to take me to the hospital after my massive heart attack. That proves true, which makes the kids take another look at the Chronal Engine, a supposed time-travel device stashed in the basement. It works, too, and soon the boys find themselves roughly 75 million years in the past, evading unfriendly dinosaurs as they try to rescue Emma, who has been snatched by a pistol-wielding time traveler. Smith doesn't bestow his smart-aleck cast with any sense of awe at what is happeninga missed opportunity at giving this run-and-scream exercise more depth. On the other hand, this is exactly the book young dino fans would write themselves, crammed with sandbox-style action and positively packed with words like Nanotyrannus and Parasaurolophus. Great back matter clarifies fact from speculation, while Henry's manga-inspired illustrations provide a good sense of the monsters' scary scale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)