Jurassic Shark

The oceans of the Jurassic world were filled with nightmarish creatures. Plesiosaurs, long-necked reptiles measuring up to twenty-five feet long, ate fish -- and each other. The 40-foot-long Kronosaurus and the 45-foot-long Liopleurodon were ferocious predators with razor-sharp teeth. They ate anything they could catch.

Alongside these megapredators swam Hybodus, whose descendants include the great white sharks of today. Hybodus was not the largest hunter in the Jurassic seas, but it was fearless. Hybodus would attack anything.

This is the story of a female Hybodus and her struggle to survive. She must find a way to keep from being eaten, even as she hunts for food herself. She must fight off a Liopleurodon that attempts to take over her hunting grounds. And she must find a way to keep herself, and her unborn baby, safe in a place where even the deadliest of hunters can become meals for other predators.Discover how she responds to the challenges -- and survives.

Deborah Diffily is a professor of early childhood education at the Center for Teacher Preparation at Southern Methodist University. She is a member of the American Education Research Association, the Association for Childhood Education International, the Association of Teacher Educators, and other professional groups. Ms. Diffily has published articles in professional periodicals such as Texas Child Care Quarterly. jurassic shark is her first book for young readers.

Wildlife and naturalist artist Karen Carr's artwork and sculpture has been featured in magazines and books, zoos and museums, in the United States, Japan, and Europe. She previously illustrated a book on Texas dinosaurs called Lone Star Dinosaurs, written by paleontologist Dr. Louis Jacobs. Her dinosaur murals are on display in museums and universities throughout the southwestern United States. A fourth-generation Texas native, Karen Carr now lives near Dallas.