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In The Ice Age: Andrew Lost #12    by J. C. Greenburg & Jan Gerardi Amazon.com order for
In The Ice Age
by J. C. Greenburg
Order:  USA  Can
Random House, 2005 (2005)
Paperback
* * *   Reviewed by J. A. Kaszuba Locke

In The Ice Age is a new Andrew Lost adventure. Top-secret scientist Uncle Al has invented a time machine, the Time-A-Tron. On board is Al's nephew Andrew, his niece Judy, Al's partner Professor Winka Wilde, Beeper Jones, and Andrew's trusty-friend, the pocket-sized robot Thudd. The crew travel forward in time from the age of dinosaurs (65 million years ago, as registered on the Time-A-Tron meter).

Before they exit the dino era, Beeper leaves the safety of the ship to retrieve his camera, and brings a dinosaur egg back on board. The Professor had reminded Beeper not to do anything to alter history, but it's too late now, as the travelers must flee a tremendous fire. They barely escape, heading to Ice Age Montana to rescue Uncle Al (kidnapped by nasty Doctor Kron-Tox, in his Tick-Tox Box time machine. They use their DNA Detector to find Uncle Al (and a friendly woolly mammoth named Max). Unfortunately, they can't leave for home right away as Uncle Al has to rescue all the animals that the bad Doctor captured from different timeframes. While Al is occupied, the four crew members venture into an ice cave (a crack in a glacier). On the walls they find ancient long-horned bison, and camel drawings. Meantime, Beeper's dino egg is hatching a baby Tyrannosaurus. That isn't the only danger - sable-toothed tigers, lions, and melting ice also put them at risk.

Greenburg not only writes splendid Andrew Lost adventures, but she also includes teaching material in her books. This time, readers are introduced to evolution and extinction, meteors, glaciers, and animals such as the glyptodont (like a big armadillo), capybara (oversize guinea pigs), and huge teratorn birds whose wing span is as 'long as two cars'. Young chapter readers should not miss this exciting, informative series.

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