Terrible Lizard

Gr 5–8—Bored at Cosmos Labs, Jess is unexpectedly on the scene when her father's temporal displacement generator causes a dinosaur to arrive in the present. It imprints upon Jess and will not hurt her, but its mere presence causes more extradimensional beasts to materialize and begin wrecking the city. Brisk and light in tone, the book features a fun-loving protagonist and entertaining creature battles. The character designs on the monsters are eye-catching and far from the typical patterns seen in most dinosaur illustrations. But the modest goals of the narrative are established quickly and slightly overstay their welcome. And while the threats may increase in scope, the tone remains consistent, which flattens the action somewhat until the inevitable conclusion. A steady stream of banter helps complement the cartoony figure work, but occasionally crowds the spectacle. The action is dynamic but unexciting, with the color doing a lot of heavy lifting for filling out realism and consistency.