A lively, endearing novel, set in Blaylock's version of California from The Digging Leviathan and revolving around the many peculiar abilities and affinities of the quasi-mermaid Peach clan. Eleven year old Kathleen Perkins, or just Perkins, trainee cryptozoologist, lives with her uncle and her cousins on the remote Californian coast. Mysterious strangers with ill intent threaten their happy state: a woman intent on taking them back to their Aunt and a man intent on stealing papers and maps from their uncle's museum. Soon they are of on a hairy and scary and wild adventure that will take them to an ice island on the foggy Grand Banks and the mysterious mansion of the Peach family on the shores of Lake Windermere.

Written as for a mid-range or Young Adult audience, Blaylock's world proves ideal for excitable and imaginative young minds. Perkins is a perceptive, intelligent, honest-to-a-fault narrator, and her odd and infuriating cousins are a great par of companions. ( )

3.5 Review originally posted at www.fantasyliterature.com

Eleven year old Kathleen Perkins considers herself a scientist �?? a cryptozoologist, to be exact. She studies legendary animals. According to Kathleen, ƒ??legendaryƒ? just means that they donƒ??t appear very often. (ƒ??You can hardly blame them.ƒ?)

Kathleenƒ??s mother disappeared in a submersible while trying to find the entrance to Pellucidar, so Kathleen now lives with her orphaned cousins Perry and Brendan at her eccentric uncleƒ??s house. Uncle Hedge, who runs a little seaside museum of strange objects, is a member of the Guild of St. George, a secret society of men and women who fight the plots of an evil genius named Dr. Hilario Frosticos. Kathleen and her cousins love Uncle Hedge but their neighbor Ms. Peckworthy, ƒ??a member of a very troublesome do-gooder society,ƒ? is trying to get the kids reassigned to their Aunt Ricketts who would probably be a more suitable guardian.

When a pale stranger and a mermaid show up looking for an old key that may be in Uncle Hedgeƒ??s museum, the three cousins and their dog are drawn into a dangerous adventure. Along the way they must contend with an island made of ice, Ms. Peckworthy, a giant skeleton, the kinds of creatures that only a cryptozoologist could love, Social Services and, of course, Dr. Hilario Frosticos.

Zeuglodon is a fun adventure story ƒ?? itƒ??s fast-paced, entertaining, and delightfully absurd. Kathleenƒ??s charming voice (itƒ??s written in the first person) is the star of the show. Itƒ??s impossible not to like her, to admire both her wild imagination and her desire to be a good scientist, and to appreciate her understanding that sheƒ??s writing for a skeptical audience:

ƒ??You can believe in Pellucidar or not, and I wonƒ??t blame you if you donƒ??t. But like I said before, no one believed in Japan, either, until they got there, and then there they were.ƒ?

Perry and Brendan, who are sometimes looking over Kathleenƒ??s shoulder as she writes, giving her help or suggestions about her style and structure, each have their own distinctive and likable personalities. The children value both their traditional and non-traditional educations and are eager to apply their knowledge and experience to their new adventure.

I was surprised at the end of Zeuglodon. I expected some things to get resolved that didnƒ??t. I liked this mysterious but optimistic ending and I sincerely hope that James P. Blaylock will be producing further adventures for Kathleen and her cousins. Zeuglodon was a fun read. Iƒ??ve given my copy to my 13-year-old son. ( )