Grandpa's crazy. Or at least that's what teens Max, Kyle, and Emma think when he tells them about the time machine in his basement. But when Emma's kidnapped precisely as Grandpa predicted, it's up to Max, Kyle, and their new pal Petra to save her. Using Grandpa's Chronal Engine, the three must commandeer a VW Bug to the Cretaceous period, navigate past car-crushing sauropods and the bloodthirsty T. rex, locate Emma, and get everyone back home in one piece.

Children's author Greg Leitich Smith tells of the research-propelled writing of Chronal Engine, his action-jammed prehistoric time-travel adventure, in my March children's market column at Authorlink.com. Be sure to drop by his website, too, www.gregleitichsmith.com, for a downloadable Chronal Engine activity kit and more!