Description:
Jake Jinks and his sister Miranda get a job at the Zoo of Impossible Animals--a top-secret facility dedicated to capturing mythical and undeniably dangerous animals called "cryptids." They soon uncover an evil plot to take over the zoo.
Brief description: Rob Crisell is an author and attorney in Temecula, California. He is a graduate of Yale University and George Mason University School of Law. While at university, he was an editor and writer with numerous publications. During summers while still at university, Rob served as editorial assistant and writer at Sunset magazine, Outside magazine, among others. After graduation, he worked as an assistant editor and writer at Highlights for Children magazine in Pennsylvania, writing numerous articles for the magazine. He later worked as an editor at John Muir Publications in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he edited travel, science, and children s books. After John Muir, he was the founding editor-in-chief of American Archaeology magazine, where he also wrote more than a dozen articles. After graduating from law school in 2003, Rob worked briefly in law before entering the field of commercial real estate. In 2012, he returned to writing. He is also an actor and a visiting artist/instructor at local schools where he teaches the works of William Shakespeare. He currently lives Southern California with his wife and their two children.
Review Quotes:
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW -- January 2017:
The Zoo of Impossible Animals: Into the Underzoo introduces readers ages 9 to 13 to Jake and his sister Miranda, who have been shaken by their family's move from urban Washington, D.C. to rural New Mexico. But a new environment isn't going to be the only challenge they face: the appearance of an ink-eating monkey at their house leads Jake and Miranda to the Zoo of Impossible Animals, a secret facility that finds and captures semi-mythical animals called "cryptids." And this is where the adventure really heats up.
Rob Crisell adds mystery into the formula when animals begin to vanish, leading Jake and Miranda to stumble into even more deeply-held secrets holding wider-reaching implications than the zoo itself.
This adds an extra layer of intrigue to the story, elevating the tale from one about a zoo with amazing animals to include elements of intrigue, espionage, and special interests that segue into diabolical intentions.
Part of the attractiveness of Rob Crisell's story lies in its attention to depicting exotic animals that allegedly live throughout the world, while the rest lies in teen protagonists who find themselves grappling with not just impossible creatures, but impossible odds of survival.
With an Indiana Jones-style series of adventures (albeit resting upon purposeful teen protagonists) The Zoo of Impossible Animals: Into the Underzoo specializes in a brand of adventure that is reminiscent of the heady action and science-gone-awry feel of Jurassic Park, and will delight any tween to middle-grade leisure reader looking for an adventure especially crafted for their reading abilities.