Junior – Middle chapter book ~16,000 words
Flesch Reading Level 80.5
Josh travels to Antarctica with his father, Steve, to attempt to retrieve dinosaur bones recently discovered in a melting glacial cave. His previous experience exploring outback Queensland with his Grandfather on a hunt for dinosaur bones, and his involvement with a dinosaur dig in South Australia, convinces the scientific team leader he would be a useful addition to the team. Besides which Steve’s skills are very much needed to ensure the expedition is a success, and he refuses to go without his son.
Landing on the Antarctic ice in a small aeroplane is just the start of the adventure. The pressure is on to retrieve the bones as the weather closes in, and an accident on the ice almost spells disaster for the team. However, with the help of a Russian helicopter pilot they manage what seems to be impossible and load the bones onto a supply vessel, only to get trapped in a sea of ice. Will they be successful?
“I have just read it. One very knowledgeable author. Well done Rose. I loved the epilogue! ” Elizabeth
“Great read, very well written, will be using this for Christmas presents!” Sara
“As a grandmother of grandsons I read this book to see if it would be suitable as a stocking stuffer or birthday present. It most certainly is, for kids who are dinosaur mad. (And which kid of a certain age isn’t!) I hadn’t realised that there were dinosaurs in Antarctica back in the day when it was a temperate, forested Gondwana. And that some of them left their bones behind (how careless). The story tells of how the young boy Josh and his father Steve are part of a team of scientists out to retrieve such a bone – and of all the challenges and adventures they encounter, from vicious storms to a recalcitrant bone. The book is certainly a page turner, but it’s also the story of how Josh and his father learn to appreciate one another anew as they participate together in dealing with those challenges. And then at the end of the book – what a climax! and the epilogue is a marvellously inventive way of concluding the story. Thoroughly recommended for youngsters. “
DINOTHAW book review by Ashton
Wow! Wow! Wow! It had suspense and funny paragraphs, action, everything you would want in a book! You could even make it into a movie… Let me just say both of these are so so so so GOOD! … There is this one paragraph and it is like this. He took the marker pen from his pocket, pulled off the cap and started to draw a line on the bone, but nothing happened. He shook the pen and tried again – still no ink came out of the pen. When he shook it violently he could hear the rattle inside the pen. It sounded if the ink was frozen solid….. The best thing about Rose’s books are that you get the picture, the story and the characters. Pretty much everything you can imagine…
Oh yeah – what did he want?” Josh was curious and wanted to know more.
“There’s a team going to Antarctica to get some dinosaur bones out. They’re looking for a rigger to give ‘em a hand.”
“What! When?” Josh wanted to find out more. One of the things he remembered from the dig was Karl talking about Gondwana, explaining how Australia used to be part of a massive land mass that eventually became Africa, South America and Antarctica. Back then Antarctica had been directly connected to Australia, and Karl was sure there would be dinosaur bones there that could reveal a lot about how dinosaurs evolved after the land mass split up.
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Rose Siva - Children's Book Author 