Dinosaur Alert! is the 40th book in the Nancy Drew Notebooks series. It was first published in February 2001. The cover tagline says “It’s fossil time–and Nancy’s digging up all the clues!”
Back of the Book Summary:
Nancy discovers dinosaur footprints in her own backyard!
The most annoying boys in Nancy’s class offer her a deal. If she can prove that a giant footprint they’ve found on the school grounds was really made by a dinosaur, they’ll stop teasing her and her friends–forever!
Always ready to take on a case, Nancy agrees, though she thinks the boys are wrong. Dinosaurs never roamed River Heights–or did they? But then she gets a mean note: “Don’t go where you don’t belong!” When Nancy finds huge footprints in her own backyard, she’s hunting everywhere for answers. It’s a monster of a mystery, and she doesn’t have a zillion years to solve it!
Inside Teaser:
The Mysterious Footprint
“The Frisbee landed under one of those bushes,” Jason said. “When I went to get it, I found something totally amazing.”
Mike kneeled in front of a bush. He brushed aside some branches and pointed to a flat rock on the ground. “Is that awesome or what?” he asked.
Nancy looked down. In the rock was an outline of a footprint. A giant footprint!
Nancy couldn’t stop staring. The footprint was about two feet long and eight inches wide. It had three pointy toes.
“What do you think it is?” she asked. “Some kind of bear?”
“Du-uh!” Jason said. “It’s a dinosaur!”
Review:
Nancy is asked by some fellow classmates to solve a case in secret – and not even Bess and George can know about it. This creates tension between Nancy and her friends. Trusting the teasing, trouble-making boys, and going along with their terms proves bad for Nancy. In an effort to solve the mystery, Nancy works hard to learn whether the giant footprint is that of a dinosaurs’, which leads Nancy to learn more about the prehistoric creatures and ask experts for information.
Since this story is about dinosaurs, there are some big words that are hard to spell and pronounce for the age range of readers, but it is worth a read! The story balances the fun of dinosaurs with information about them. Unfortunately, I felt pressure for Nancy as she struggles to maintain her friendship with Bess and George, and I sensed an urgency to solve the case in order to regain Bess and George’s trust.
Some minor childlike teasing is found in the story, and a few child-level jargons like “Cute,” used facetiously, and the word “Du-uh!” is used in a sarcastic term.
Nancy Drew Canon Observations:
Nancy keeps a blue notebook for her sleuthing. The story mentions Hannah Gruen, the Drew housekeeper.
George and Bess are cousins. George’s real name is Georgia.
Bess’s stationery is pink with yellow butterflies. George’s stationery has a soccer ball design.
Nancy is described as having reddish-blond hair.
Nancy has a brown labrador puppy named Chocolate Chip.
Nancy’s favorite TV show is Mr. Lizard’s Funhouse.
Extra Notes:
A Minstrel Book, published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
Cover art by Joanie Schwarz. Inside pages are illustrated by Jan Naimo Jones.
Length: 70 pages in the main story (more with the title page, series lists, and ads).
