Chronal Engine: A Prehistoric Time-Travel Adventure by Greg Leitich Smith & Blake Henry

Summary:
When Max, Kyle, and Emma are sent to live with their reclusive grandfather, they think he’s crazy, especially when he tells them about his time machine. But after Emma is kidnapped at the exact time that her grandfather predicted, Max and Kyle are forced to believe his eccentric stories—even the one about the Chronal Engine in the basement.
 Now, to save Emma, Max, Kyle, and their new friend Petra must pile into a VW Bug, and use the Chronal Engine to take the road trip of a lifetime—right back to the Cretaceous period. With dangers all around, the teens find themselves dodging car-crushing herbivores in addition to the terrifying T. rex. In this ancient environment, can three contemporary teens hunt down a kidnapper, forage for food, and survive long enough to return home?
Length: 192 pages
Source: Netgalley ARC
Publication Date: March 20th 2012
Summary taken from GoodReads.com

This was my first time reading a book by either of these two authors and I really liked it. Let me tell you that in my house watching the Discovery Channel, Nova, and the History Channel after school was not optional. This is both good and bad, you see now have a love of all things dinosaur and prehistoric as well sharks and nazis. It's true. By the time I was 8 I knew more about the past the any kid in my class...and though I got tired of my Dad forcing me to watch WWI and WWII shows I still have a great love for prehistoric animals and sharks. Seriously Shark Week for me is like NY Fashion Week for other girls I know. But, rather than be ashamed of this I chose to put it out there on the interwebs.

My name is Kimberly.
I am a nerd.

So of course I knew as soon as I read the description on NetGalley that I HAD to read this. I mean the kid in me would not forgive me if I were to have passed it by. I'm so glad I read this! I really wish it had been around when I was younger because I think I would have loved it.

The whole idea behind the story was awesome, I mean it had time travel AND dinosaurs. What more could I ask for?  I really think that the story is great for kids 10+. The characters were likable and I thought that it was somewhat like a kid's verison of the H.G. Wells classic book The Time Machine.
Out of all the characters I would have to say that I liked Max the most just because I know what it's like to be the youngest sibling and to be babied by my older brother and sister. I think that the authors added just the right amount of dinosaurs to the story as well as just the right amount of mystery and intrigue for younger readers.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who has a kid that loves dinosaurs and time travel and I really hope the authors write another book and will turn this into a series and will take them back in prehistory again.

*I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my free and honest review.

★ ★ ★ ★