Scott Magoon

Lug, Martie, Quito, and Scratch are a team of "rare" (extinct) animals working for Dr. Z to - they think - protect nature. But when a trip to Siberia reveals that Dr. Z only wants the Siberian unicorn horn for his own gain and power, and that he's been misinforming the team all along, they turn on him and team up with Ursa, escaping with the horn (and its magical healing properties). Full of advanced technology, scenes of action and danger, and a big revelation, this is an exciting middle grade series starter with a focus on environmental protection and climate change.

There is a lot of back matter, including an "extinctionary" (a fact sheet on all the extinct animals in the book, including saber-tooth tigers, passenger pigeons, woolly mammoths, Collins' poison frogs, cave bears, and more), a glossary, more about the Batagaika Crater, ways to protect the environment, instructions for the quick-freeze trick, further reading, and a bibliography.

Quotes

"Big picture, people. Earth's natural habitats are in trouble. We've each got a chance to make a positive difference. The world needs all creatures to work together. Nature needs her heroes." (Quito the Collins' poison frog, 17)

"Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness." (Nadia, citing an old Russian saying, 41)

"Your idealistic foster father led you to believe you had a choice in your destiny. But you do not." (Dr. Z to Scratch, 111)

"Each of us is the last of our kind. But our family is the first of its kind. Here's to us - the Extincts! Answering nature's call together."
"OMG. Worst. Slogan. Ever." (Scratch and Martie, 138)… (mere)

I don’t know how to describe this. I love how seriously the story takes itself with cartoony extinct animals.

Lug, the wooly mammoth, has survivor’s guilt and even legal issues when an arsonist triggers a traumatic memory. I enjoyed his narrative and arc, not wanting to be exploited in the zoo system but also wanting to keep his hands busy.

Also, I’m always immediately intrigued when an antagonist says they want to burn the world.
The art style even has a kind of grittiness to it. The fighting of forest fires was informative. I had no clue you really can fight fire with fire.

SN: I’m not a Spanish language buff, but I’m tired that the frog’s Spanish never has accent marks. Si and Sí are two different things
… (mere)