Rex

by Fred Yager

Davy Ross was staying with his grandmother and just about to celebrate his eleventh birthday when he received word that his parents, paleontologists for the Natural History Museum, were missing and believed dead on an expedition in Africa. A few days later, a trunk containing his parent’s personal effects arrives and in that trunk, Davy finds what appears to be some kind of egg. Assuming it is one of the many fossils his parents are always bringing back from their digs, Davy sets it on a shelf along with his other dinosaur memorabilia. During the night, the egg hatches. As the story unfolds, readers experience an adventure about an unusual friendship in which a young boy finds himself raising on the upper West Side of Manhattan something long believed to be extinct. “In Rex, by Fred Yager (co-author of Untimely Death), 11-year-old Davy Ross's paleontologist parents go missing from a dig on Mount Kilimanjaro, and he finds a mysterious egg among their belongings. When a tiny dinosaur hatches, Davy has to protect him from an unscrupulous professor, return the tyrannosaurus to its jungle home and locate his missing parents.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “The author, a screenwriter, has presented a very visual story that's fast-paced and full of action….” SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL "I like it because it is very interesting and you can't put it down. Once you start reading, you never stop!"--from the report on REX by a 7th grader who rated the book as "thrilling" "an exciting adventure for young readers about a unique friendship and childhood bonding experience between a young boy named Davy, and Rex -- a creature that has been long thought extinct in our world. A charming and heartwarming story..."--MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW Fred Yager is the author of numerous other novels and nonfiction books including the young adult novel SOUND FROM A STAR.

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[Xander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Hannacroix Creek Books for kindly sending me this book and allowing me to read and review it for you. Also, they wanted me to let you know that this book is available in paperback, hardcover AND eBook just recently in February so you can read it in whatever format you choose! Enjoy the review! Davy’s parents are paleontologists; they search for dinosaur evidence in different parts of the world. This is the first time in four years that Davy has not been allowed to go with them; and it is the one dig they go missing. With Davy and his grandmother heart-broken at the news, his parents’ personal items get sent to them from Mount Kilimanjaro, the site of the exploration. When a mysterious looking egg ends up in the trunk of stuff, it hatches and out comes a baby T-rex! Now Davy has a pet T-rex that he is trying to keep a secret, but it is proving quite difficult because of how extremely large it is getting. Where will Davy hide the dinosaur, and how will he keep it away from the ruthless Professor Berenson who will stop at nothing to find Rex, Davy’s Tyrannosaurus. An extraordinary novel about a close relationship between a boy and something everyone believed to be extinct; Rex will have us turning the pages at a rapid pace.

My thoughts:

I thought Rex was a great book. I was never much into dinosaurs, but this story was really fascinating. It makes you think about all the possibilities; are dinosaurs REALLY extinct? Imagine, what would you do if a baby T-rex hatched in front of your very own eyes? Also, when you really think about how hard it must be to keep a 8-foot creature a secret, you think about what effect it would have on people who saw a massive creature which one minute ago they thought was extinct. I think Yager did a really great job describing the struggles of hiding him, and he captured the character of Berenson perfectly. The story is so realistic, and the setting was done really well, but in the same way it is NOT realistic because there are dinosaurs involved. Great job, Fred Yager and keep doing why you are doing! I would love to read another MG novel from you!

XanderStars:

Action: 9 out of 10 XanderStars

Suspense: 8 out of 10 XanderStars

Well-Written: 8 out of 10 XanderStars

Page-Turning: 9 out of 10 XanderStars

Overall: 9 out of 10 XanderStars
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[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The kindest thing I can say is that it's a derivative amalgam of about five other moderately good works. The only critically relevant thing I can say is that this publisher needs to hire a better editor and copy editor. Repetition and typos abound.