The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Dinosaur Hunter

By Tim Collins

Meet Ann—a smart but unlucky teenager keeping a diary of her life as she hunts for dinosaur bones. When she gets an opportunity to search for fossils in the American West, Ann is determined to turn her luck around and show the world her discoveries.

The hilarious Long-Lost Secret Diary series puts readers inside the heads of hapless figures from history stuggling to carry out their roles and getting things horribly wrong. The accessible, irreverent stories will keep young readers laughing as they discover the importance of not being afraid to learn from mistakes. Fact boxes, a glossary, and additional back matter provide historical context and background.

• Language: English
• Publisher: North Star Editions
• Release date: Sep 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781631631979

Tim Collins

Tim Collins worked as a copywriter in advertising before becoming a full-time author. He writes nonfiction books for adults and children’s fiction books, including books designed to appeal to reluctant readers. His work has been translated into forty languages. His books have won numerous awards including the Manchester Fiction City award and the Lincolnshire Book award. He is originally from Manchester but now lives in London.

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The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World’s Worst Dinosaur Hunter © The Salariya Book Company Limited 2019. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Book design by David Salariya

Illustrations by Sarah Horne

Additional cover illustrations by Tanya Komedina

Published in the United States by Jolly Fish Press, an imprint of North Star Editions, Inc.

First US Edition

First US Printing, 2018

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (pending)

978-1-63163-196-2 (paperback)

978-1-63163-195-5 (hardcover)

Jolly Fish Press

North Star Editions, Inc.

2297 Waters Drive

Mendota Heights, MN 55120

www.jollyfishpress.com

Printed in the United States of America

Chapter 1

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Fossil Hunter

Monday, February 28th

I found three fish lizard bones this morning, and I managed to get them to Father before the tourists arrived.

Every afternoon he waits for the coach from Bath to pull up at the inn and watches as the new visitors arrive in our village.

Then he races down to the lucky bone stall he keeps outside our house and writes his signs.

If he hears one of the tourists sneezing, he’ll claim the bones can cure colds. If he sees one stooping, he’ll claim they can cure bad backs. He once spotted a short, bad-tempered man and scribbled a sign that claimed the bones could make you taller and more agreeable, but the man just kicked his stall over.

Most of the time it works very well. Father’s good at engaging the visitors in friendly conversation, and they’re usually in high spirits at the start of their seaside holiday. By the time they realize the bones of my fish lizards are no more likely to cure their ailments than the bones they pick out of their Christmas goose, it’s too late. Surprisingly few return to the stall and threaten to assault Father with the bones.

It’s all very frustrating for me, however, because I know the bones are special. They’re just not special in the way Father thinks.

I’m convinced they belonged to ancient creatures that lived in the sea in the very distant past. Father bought me some books and journals on the subject, and I discovered that learned men believe all manner of strange beasts walked the earth, swam in the oceans, and flew in the air a very long time ago.

Not many remains of these creatures have been found yet, but every month brings new discoveries.

I believe my fish lizard bones belong to this new science. And I worry that my finds will end up on the mantelpieces of fickle tourists when they really ought to be studied by experts.

Whenever I explain this to Father, he says we make a good living from the bones, so it doesn’t matter what they are.

Tuesday, March 1st

This proves I was right. Today Father sold some of my fish lizard bones for twenty pounds, which is a huge amount of money for us. And it wasn’t because the man who bought them thought they’d cure his eyesight or back. It was because he knew what they were.

Father spotted a man with wild hair and a crumpled jacket stepping off the coach this afternoon. He rushed down to the stall and wrote a sign which made the unlikely claim that the fish lizard bones could cure untidiness. Surely carrying a dusty bone around would make someone look even more untidy?

The scruffy man soon took a stroll down from the inn to the seashore. Our house is on the main route, and Father was waiting behind his stall.

The man’s jaw dropped when he saw the fish lizard bones. Father started his usual sales speech, but he didn’t really need to. The man was turning the bones over in his hands one by one, and muttering in an excited fashion.

After a while he asked Father how much he wanted for all the bones on the table. Father said he wouldn’t take a penny less than five pounds, but the man offered twenty.

For once, Father was speechless. He prides himself on being good at haggling, but never before had he encountered a customer who offered to pay more, let alone four times the asking price. He sat frozen behind his stall as the man scooped up the bones and laid the money out.

It was only when a breeze picked up and the money could have blown away that Father snapped out of his trance. He tucked the bills into his pocket and asked the man why he was so interested in the goods.

The man said he was a keen collector of ancient fossils and believed the bones were of great scientific interest.

Now maybe Father will listen to me when I tell him that the bones are worth more if we tell the truth about them.

GET REAL

The bones Ann has found belong to a large swimming reptile called Plesiosaur. It wasn’t a dinosaur, though it lived at the same time as some of them. It had a broad flat body with four flippers and a long neck. Many Plesiosaur skeletons were discovered in the early nineteenth century by the fossil hunter Mary Anning (see Hall of Fame section).

Some people