At first look, the cover grabs your attention and seeing the shovel and map you immediately know these boys are about to have some fun. It’s also very colorful. This story is about Fish, Roger, TJ, a bully named Bryce, Captain Kidd, well at least his legendary treasure, and their librarian, Mr. E. Mann (get it? Mystery man!) who appears to be looking for the same treasure. When the bully bets them $50 they can’t find it, they get busy trying to find the treasure to win. “This is a historical document. It’s worth tons of money. It’s probably priceless.” I like these boys. They’re rowdy, poke fun at each other, like bugs and everything else that is gross, and you can really tell they are good friends. These boys like to have fun and they might even get other kids thinking and using their imagination to play outside and go on their own adventures. I like how the author did real research about the pirate Captain Kidd and his long lost buried treasure. I know if I lived closer, I’d probably get my friends together and try and find it also. An added bonus is there are quite a lot of pictures in the book which can help push the story along for kids who might need something to look at besides words. I also read a lot of books and notice that most boy books are the same, but this is different and I think boys will like to read this for a change and girls too.

I am a huge fan of the Lunch Lady graphic novels by author Jarrett J. Krosoczka, who wrote this book, Platypus Police Squad: The Ostrich Conspiracy. This book is part story and part drawings, so kids get a nice blend of both and that sometimes helps kids read more. I know I still really like having pictures in my books. First of all, this book is like part mystery and part comedy. Detectives Zengo and O’Malley have a new case: to solve the mystery of what is going on at the scene of a film set and figure out why someone would want to do this. What does movie star Chase Mercy have to do with it, and what is the Mayor hiding? Can the Platypus Police Squad get to the bottom of this? “C’mon kid. We could use a good hot dog after all this.” There are some serous topics talked about in this book about lying, not being honest, and how important it is to take care of the environment because it can seriously affect our soil and water that we drink. I thought it was funny they use boomerangs as their police weapons. This helps keep the violence out of kids’ books. I liked this book and I think it is a book series both boys and girls will really like and read over and over!

At first look, the cover grabs your attention and seeing the shovel and map you immediately know these boys are about to have some fun. It’s also very colorful. This story is about Fish, Roger, TJ, a bully named Bryce, Captain Kidd, well at least his legendary treasure, and their librarian, Mr. E. Mann (get it? Mystery man!) who appears to be looking for the same treasure. When the bully bets them $50 they can’t find it, they get busy trying to find the treasure to win. “This is a historical document. It’s worth tons of money. It’s probably priceless.” I like these boys. They’re rowdy, poke fun at each other, like bugs and everything else that is gross, and you can really tell they are good friends. These boys like to have fun and they might even get other kids thinking and using their imagination to play outside and go on their own adventures. I like how the author did real research about the pirate Captain Kidd and his long lost buried treasure. I know if I lived closer, I’d probably get my friends together and try and find it also. An added bonus is there are quite a lot of pictures in the book which can help push the story along for kids who might need something to look at besides words. I also read a lot of books and notice that most boy books are the same, but this is different and I think boys will like to read this for a change and girls too. Reviewed by me for San Francisco Book Review on June 6 2013,

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble is the story of Noah, a paraplegic with a levitating wheelchair, but you don’t really hear too much about his disability. His family, the Zarcs, live in a post-apocalyptic world where the earth has been destroyed at there is an evil guy, Haon, they are constantly going up against. They must travel back in time on to bring back a pair of each animal so they can rebuild the earth that has been left uninhabitable, and to do it without Haon stopping them. This is a great story, even for those who think they don't really like science fiction. You will probably change your mind after reading this book.

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble is the story of Noah, a paraplegic with a levitating wheelchair, but you don’t really hear too much about his disability. His family, the Zarcs, live in a post-apocalyptic world where the earth has been destroyed at there is an evil guy, Haon, they are constantly going up against. They must travel back in time on to bring back a pair of each animal so they can rebuild the earth that has been left uninhabitable, and to do it without Haon stopping them. This is a great story, even for those who think they don't really like science fiction. You will probably change your mind after reading this book.

I think most people have watched this movie, but the book is so much better. You really get to know Matilda just like she is your best friend. If you like books that end in a positive way, then read this book.

If you are after a really short book, then read this one. This book was funny and teaches you to think wisely before doing stupid stuff.