Cryptid Hunters is a 2005 young adult science fiction novel by Roland Smith; it follows the adventures of thirteen-year-old siblings Grace and Marty O'Hara, who are sent to live with their Uncle Wolfe after their parents are lost in an accident. He is an anthropologist on a remote island, searching for cryptids, which are animals thought to be extinct or not to exist. His rival Noah Blackwood, a popular animal collector, tries to acquire an alleged dinosaur egg from Wolfe, and the twins get involved in the conflict which reveals a convoluted family history.[1] The novel was nominated for several library awards and book lists, which include Hawaii's 2008 Nene Recommended Book List,[2] the Texas Library Association's 2007-2008 Lone Star Reading List,[3] and Third Place for the Missouri Association of School Librarians' Mark Twain Readers Award.[4] Smith has written three sequels called Tentacles, Chupacabra, and Mutation.[5]
Reception
A Kirkus magazine review described the story as "a B-movie with email". The "enjoyably rollicking adventures are appropriately cheesy; the stereotypes, though equally fitting, are a bit much."[6] Author Wendy Sparrow wrote that "the book was like the Magic Treehouse kids all grown up and taking on Jurassic Park or Journey to the Center of the Earth." She enjoyed Grace and Marty's "fun and real" personalities. The five-year-old technology was not dated, and the book was surprisingly audience-friendly that she could read it to her seven-year-old son.[7] A review in Publishers Weekly read, "This unsatisfying journey is less about cryptids than it is about soap opera–esque family intrigue".[8]
^Original publishing month is as referenced by published reviews. Some of the distributor websites such as Amazon, Barnes&Noble have posted a release date as early as December 27, 2004.
^The publisher, Hyperion Books, has also been referred to as Disney-Hyperion, and Hyperion Books for Children.
^Worldcat.org has listed a publish date of January 1, 2005, but this may be a filler for any unknown dates in 2005.
^Amazon posted a release date of March 21, 2006, while Barnes&Noble and Goodreads.com posted a release date of April 1, 2006.
