Battlesaurus Rampage at Waterloo by Brian Falkner - ADVISABLE

Falkner, Brian Battlesaurus Rampage at Waterloo, 357 pgs. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2015. $17.99. 

Language: PG (6 swears, 0 F); Mature Content: PG-13; (implied but not described sex, rape); Violence: PG-13 (battle gore, executions, death by dino).  

Willem is a teenager living in a small village near Waterloo.   Small saurs are common in Europe and Willem has found a way to mesmerize a small saur named Pieter.  Trouble comes when a large saur finds its way to the village and is only killed when Willem is able to use some of his mesmerizing tricks on it.  Though the town tries to hide any trace of the giant saur, Willem soon finds himself pursued by the French as he tries to warn the British that Napoleon has figured out how to use saurs never seen in Europe in battle.

Different story lines intersperse to make this alternative historical fiction believable.  There is quite a bit of violence due to the subject matter and several references to sex.   Content and readability make this more appropriate for high school readers.  The author has striven for as much historical accuracy as possible, dinos not withstanding.  I will read the sequel! 

HS – ADVISABLE.  

Reviewer, Michelle in the Middle