First published 2023
Two men race to transform a struggling New York museum during America's Gilded Age fossil rush. Socialite Henry Fairfield Osborn runs the failing American Museum of Natural History while fossil hunter Barnum Brown scours the harsh Badlands searching for prehistoric treasures. When Brown uncovers the first Tyrannosaurus Rex bones, Osborn recognizes an opportunity to rescue his institution from collapse. The massive predator's remains draw crowds who marvel at this ancient giant and question what caused its extinction. Brown and Osborn work to make dinosaurs a cultural phenomenon that captures public imagination. David K. Randall traces their journey across continents, from remote Patagonian expeditions to the unforgiving American frontier to Manhattan's elite social circles. This young readers adaptation shows how one prehistoric monster changed scientific understanding and sparked fascination with Earth's deep history.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, dinosaurs, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: race-against-time, underdog-story
Setting: American Museum of Natural History, Badlands, Manhattan, Patagonia
Period: Gilded Age
192 pages · Hardcover · Norton Young Readers