cover image Dino-Mike and the T. Rex Attack

Dino-Mike and the T. Rex Attack

Franco Aureliani. Capstone/Stone Arch, $5.95 trade paper (128p) ISBN 978-1-4342-9631-3

In this first book in the Dino-Mike series, Mike Evans joins his paleontologist father on a dig in Montana, where the dinosaur-obsessed boy has a run-in with a living tyrannosaur. Along with a new friend named Shannon (and her trove of futuristic technology), Mike tries to corral the wayward dinosaur while fending off a mysterious nemesis, Jurassic Jeff, who is trying to prevent dinosaurs from going extinct “by introducing them into different time periods,” as Shannon explains. Aureliani’s b&w illustrations bring a fittingly cartoony vibe to the madcap action. While the writing tends toward over-explanation (“Oh no. That’s what you wanted. You wanted me to follow you, so I wouldn’t follow her. You tricked me into looking for you so I would waste time”), dinosaur fans should still be swept up in the fun. Ages 6–8. (Mar.)