Meet Tyrone the Tyrannosaurus, Green Lawn's newest--and biggest!--visitor. The kids' old friend Jud Wheat is in town, and he's raising funds for a dinosaur museum by taking the T. rex on tour. But after the show in Green Lawn, all Jud's money disappears! Can Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose track down the cash and rescue Jud from this prehistoric pickle?
In The Ninth Nugget, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose visited a dude ranch in Bozeman, Montana, where they meet Jud Wheat, the son of the ranch owners. Now, Jud Wheat returns to the series when he visits the kids in Green Lawn... and he's got a massive surprise in tow. Jud and his friend, Dean Whitefeather (who is obviously intended to be Native American, but whose race/ethnicity is never specifically mentioned), are touring the country with Tyrone, an animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex, in order to raise money to build a family-owned dinosaur museum back in Bozeman. With them is Scoop Raker, who's helping arrange and manage their trip.
Once again, Ruth Rose and Josh's younger brothers get some pagetime; the parents are mentioned, but don't get any dialogue. And as usual, the kids handle the mystery--the disappearance of the money Jud and Dean have raised so far--on their own, though Officer Fallon is again seen working in the background. (You know, at this point, he should just hire these kids. Their improbable competence would save the police department a lot of time and money, I'm thinking.)
Anyway, it's another fun mystery for chapter book readers; fans of dinosaurs in particular should get a kick out of it, though I also highly recommend it to mystery lovers and young readers in general.
