Someone from Lug the Mammoth’s past comes back for fiery vengeance. And the Extincts—a team of genetically enhanced animals—must quench the blaze and save humanity.
Someone from Lug the Mammoth’s past comes back for fiery vengeance. And the Extincts—a team of genetically enhanced animals—must quench the blaze and save humanity.
The Extincts aren’t exactly what their team name suggests, but they’re close. They are, in fact, clones of ancient critters long thought to be dead and gone.
So, they’re more like The One-of-a-Kinds, but that’s a real mouthful.
So who are these guys?
Well, they’re a team of animal heroes: the strong and faithful Lug, who was recreated from the DNA of a woolly mammoth; the fly-anything passenger pigeon Martie; Quinto, the Collin’s poison frog; and Scratch, a saber-toothed tiger and the team’s leader.
But good ol’ Lug is having second thoughts about the whole team idea. And it’s not because of the name, but because of what they’re doing. This team decided to start a zoo as a way of raising funds for their heroics. Lug, however, wants to skip selling collectables and foam fingers and just jump right into the hero stuff.
So after he gets a bit angry with a zoo visitor who tried to set him on fire, Lug decides to leave the Extincts and join a team of smokejumpers. They’re firefighters who skydive into disastrous wildfires and actually help people. (I know, a skydiving mammoth sounds like a bit of a stretch, but Lug is more aerodynamic than you think.)
The problem is that there’s been a string of massive fires as of late. And they haven’t been accidental. They’re actually being caused by a not-so-extinct mastodon who popped up from Lug’s past. This guy, who calls himself Blastodon, sports a flame-throwing trunk. And he’s planning to set all of Los Angeles on fire.
Fortunately, the rest of the Extincts team has been looking for Lug to convince him to join them once again. And they show up just about the time when Lug and his smoke-jumping team realize that Blastadon is, well, too hot to handle.
It’s time for the Extincts to leap into action and show Blastodon what one-of-a-kind heroes can do to a hot-headed bad guy.
Someone says, “Thank God” when someone else escapes harm.
At one point, Lug passes out from breathing too much smoke and drifts into what he labels as a “Mid-Between,” a place “somewhere between his dreams and the cosmos.” There he “talks” with past deceased family members who encourage him to wake and help others. He also remembers his mother telling him that the stars in the sky are representative of his many past ancestors in the “elephant nebula.”
Lug and his team also have a pretty strong belief that climate change is the cause of past animal extinction.
The firefighters Lug works with teach him (and young readers) about how smokejumpers parachute into dangerous situations, use a psychrometer, clear fire areas and use personal fire shelters in the midst of unruly blazes.
The Extincts team members also use their own personal skill sets to help one another and thwart Blastodon. The Extincts learn about the La Brea Tar Pits.
Someone uses the word “heck” and we’re told that someone swore (represented by the symbols “@#$^&”).
Some young punk sets Lug’s long hair on fire with a magnifying glass. Lug angrily smashes a wall to catch the kid. Lug and his firefighting crew get stuck in a dangerous forest fire. Blastodon causes all sorts of fiery damage. He also smashes a huge telescope to steal its ray-enhancing lenses. Blastodon obliterates a tiny salamander who was helping Lug with a fiery blast.
None.
Have you ever considered how a wildfire not only endangers humans, but all the animals that live in the forest? What kinds of things can you do (or avoid) to prevent those fires? What can we humans do to help prevent animal extinction?
Another big theme in this book is that of being a good friend. Friends get angry sometimes. What kinds of things can you do to help a friend deal with their anger? Ephesians 4: 26 says, ‘“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.’ What do you think that means? How does that verse help you with your anger? How can you help a friend understand that you care about the things they’re worried about or angry about?
Get free discussion question for books at focusonthefamily.com/magazine/thriving-family-book-discussion-questions.
This second Extincts graphic novel is a quirky blend of heated action-adventure and nods to climate change.
Bonus content includes facts about extinct and endangered animals, along with info on smokejumper firefighters and making your own telescope.
You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected].
Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
Review by Bob Hoose
