Noah Zarc and his family are travelling through time collecting animals from Earth - while the animals are still around to collect. In Noah's own time, the Earth has been uninhabitable and all animals extinct for almost 1,000 years. There is a bit of "Take care of the Earth before it's too late", but it's part of the story, and not preachy. (I think that's common sense myself, but obviously not everyone feels that way.) Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with the project, and Noah's entire family is in danger.

This was a fun book to read, with all the 31st-century gadgets, and Noah and his siblings picking at each other. The time-travel stuff made me a little dizzy, though. It always does. If you go back in time, are you changing events from that point forward, or were they always that way because you'd already been there... See what I mean? Time travel is fun; it just blows my mind. LOL

There was also all the references to the Noah's Ark story: The most obvious one being Noah's name: Noah Zarc. Also the massive ship on which they traveled and transported the animals: the ARC. The smaller ships they use to for short jaunts: DUV ships. The robot that accompanies Noah's parents to Earth to keep records: MOSES. And we can't forget Johah the whale.

I loved the twists and turns in the story and how it wasn't predictable. Even the bad guy wasn't completely evil. I like a well-rounded villain.

While reading Mammoth Trouble, I couldn't imagine what the author would have left to write about in a second book, but Pease did a great job of wrapping up this part of the story while leaving enough for another book.

I got this book free through the WoMen's Literary Cafe Review Program in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This is a really well told story, full of action and excitement. If you love time travel, you’ll enjoy the way Noah jumps forward and backwards, and debates issues like the immutability of time (not in those words!). The context, world-building and plot are beautifully put together, and I can see Middle-Graders or their teachers, getting together to discuss how a Stone Age person would view our world, or ask how would you explain the internet to them.

The problem for me was that, once again, the fact I’m not a Middle-Grader rears its ugly head. I found the first two-thirds of the story irritating in its StarWars-Star Trek mash-up. For a grown up, there are a lot of predictable parts of stories from other things. But then, what are stories but retellings of old themes? It didn’t stop Shakespeare, after all. I have the same problem with His Dark Materials, so put my comments in that context. Having got over that two-thirds watershed, the story ripped along, and I paused only to admire Mr Pease’s magnificent descriptions of spacecraft flight and fight.

This has the promise of being a first-class series, so you’d better get started on it now! ( )

This well-written sci-fi for middle graders rocks! Loved the concept, storyline, Pease’s clever play on the story of Noah’s Ark, and I especially loved twelve-year-old Noah. His wicked sense of humor and the courage he displayed during a run-in with killer robots won me over from the get-go, and my appreciation for him deepened when learning that he is also crippled. Technology from his futuristic world gives him mobility, but you get the sense even without these advancements Noah is not one that would allow his handicap to be an obstacle. Noah’s family members were also great characters. Their interaction, especially between the siblings, rang true, and the adventure was very fun. I highly recommend Noah of Zarc, and, middle grade teachers, I highly recommend that you add it to your summer reading list for your students. From quality to plot, it’s a winner! ( )

Noah Zarc was born without the use of his legs, yet he does not let this fact deter him from enjoying life to the fullest extent. He harbors a passion for piloting spaceships, a reality that his parents have made possible whenever they travel back through time to save Earth's animals from dying out completely. You see, the Earth can no longer sustain human life. At least not yet. Not until it's atmosphere is brought back under control in order to do so, a feat that Noah and his family hope to achieve.

As they travel through space and time acquiring each animal little by little, the family encounters quite a few obstacles along the way. Noah's mother is kidnapped and taken back in time to Mars by a force they're not yet sure of. His father, on the other hand, is left stranded in the Ice Age.

Determined to save his family and set things right, Noah and his siblings embark on an adventure that leave them wondering whether they'll ever make it back home alive. Dodging killer robots and other treacherous forces, they're able to rescue their father with one tiny glitch. Unbeknownst to the others, they now have a stowaway aboard their ship by the name of Adina, a girl whom Noah met while traveling back to the Ice Age to rescue his father.

Setting that little detail aside, Noah decides to go ahead with his plan. They will rescue his mother no matter the cost. He never once imagined he'd be traveling back in time in hopes of stopping the evil threatening his family. As secrets of the past begin to unravel, Noah realizes that his family is all he's got and he will not give it up so easily.

Using the skills and talents he's acquired over the years, he's able to remain one step ahead. For how long, though, he does not know. The safety of his family and Earth's restoration are all that matters to him. Nothing, and no one, will keep him from achieving that very goal.

This book was totally delightful. While it is a children's book, middle-grade, to be exact, I enjoyed every minute of it. D. was able to tell the story of Noah and the Ark in a very futuristic setting. He was able to create a post-apocalyptic view of what the world would be like if man were to be the cause of its demise. Truthfully, the story left me with a bit of food for thought. All in all, it was beautifully written and I know that others will enjoy the book, too. So looking forward to more of the series soon. ( )

I loved this story! It was fresh and fast paced and as the title tells you it's based loosely on Noah's Ark, but this Noah is part of the family Zarc and their spaceship is called the ARC. It's huge, large enough to house ten blue whales in a natural enough habitat that they won't be crowded and elephants on a realistic African savanna. Their mission is to travel through time saving a male and female of each species of every animal so they can repopulate the planet Earth. Earth experienced a cataclysm and all life was destroyed, but that was eons ago and now it is deemed habitable.

Of course, there is an evil man that wants to stop them. People don't need animals anymore as they eat synthetic meat and he doesn't want the Earth to be a zoo. He wants people to live on Earth instead of Venus with it's inhospitable air. So they are in danger whenever they collect their specimens.

But more than being an exciting story about racing through space and saving Earth and animals and trying to beat the bad guy, all of which I'm quite sure children will love, this story is also about family. Noah is very aware of his family and discovers a huge secret about himself during the course of the book. He has to come to terms with it and what it means. A lot of the novel is taken up with him trying to rescue his parents. His siblings take a back seat in the novel but there is no doubt that this family is close knit and love each other first and foremost. It was good to see that tied in to the story so subtly yet feel it's importance to the outcome.

A second book is due out next year and I cannot wait for it!
Robert Pease's writing is easy to read and engaging. It wasn't bogged down with too much Sci-Fi language that I felt like I didn't know what was going on. And every time there was something about moving through space and time, some of the characters understood it, but Noah fessed up that he never did understand it and frankly neither did I. But it never kept me from thoroughly enjoying this novel! ( )