My Daniel
Product Description "All I want to find is one dinosaur," Daniel was saying. "And I'll find it right here. Like I do all my fossils." Wandering through the Natural History Museum with her grandchildren, Julia Creath feels the presence of her dead brother, Daniel, she remembers a time when fossil fever hit everyone, old and young -- a time when people would kill for those old bones under the ground. Julia becomes the Nebraska farm girl she once was, as she weaves together the story of the great dinosaur rush -- an adventurous tale of love and treachery, but most of all the story of her own childhood, and of the older brother she loved more than anything. Daniel had a dream that julia shared -- and the she alone would see come true. From Publishers Weekly In PW 's words, "Conrad is at the peak of her storytelling powers" in this adventurous tale that "tautly builds suspense and culminates in a scene of epiphanic intensity." Ages 10-up. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 5-8-- When she's 80 years old, Julia Summerwaithe decides to visit her grandchildren, Ellie and Stevie, in New York City, for the first time. She has something important to show them; in the Natural History Museum is the dinosaur she and her brother discovered on their farm in Nebraska when they were young. But even more important to Julia than seeing the dinosaur is sharing her memories of the discovery and excavation with her grandchildren. Through their grandmother's description of her rugged prairie childhood, her brother's untimely death, and the discovery of the dinosaur fossil, Ellie and Steve relive their grandmother's childhood adventures. Readers will be drawn into Julia's story, just as her grandchildren are, until her memories become more involving than modern-day surroundings. Although this book has less historical basis than Lasky's The Bone Wars (Morrow, 1988), the characterization of the grandmother makes the story more believable and more memorable. It's a shame that the other characters in this book, including the grandchildren, aren't as well defined as Julia. And the racist portrayal of an evil fossil collector's female companion is inexcusable in such an otherwise well written story. --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public Library Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review "A celebration of the bonds of love and the eloguence of the human spirit." -- --ALA Booklist "Conrad is at the peak of her storytelling powers" -- --Publishers Weekly About the Author Pam Conrad wrote many award-winning books for children, including the immensely popular The Tub People and The Tub Grandfather, both illustrated by Richard Egielski. She is also the author of a number of critically acclaimed novels, including Prairie Songs, a 1986 ALA Best Children's Book of the Year and a 1985 ALA Golden Kite Honor Book, and Stonewords, winner of the 1991 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Juvenile Mystery.