The premise of this first entry in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! RBI series is a little convoluted. Ripley High—located in the former home of the creator of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!—is now home to students with special powers. The best of the best are inducted into Ripley’s Bureau of Investigation (RBI), a high-tech operation that sends kids on dangerous missions around the world, where they, like the Ripley’s series of old, try to separate fact from fiction. Solid graphic elements help sort this all out, with visual introductions to the RBI team, both teachers and students. In this adventure, something has been spotted in the Florida Everglades that seems to be half man, half reptile. What can it be? After several close calls, the team is met with an answer that seems far-fetched until one reads the appended real-life case files. With all the graphic elements, including sidebar facts on smart phone images, this should especially tempt reluctant readers. This title will lead kids right into the follow-ups, including The Dragon’s Triangle, Running Wild, and Secrets of the Deep (all 2010). Grades 4-7. --Ilene Cooper
Review
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REVIEW FROM TWEEN BOOK REVIEWS
Ripley's RBI: A Scaly Tale
Ripley’s Bureau of Investigation: A Scaly Tale tells the story of a group of kids on a crazy adventure. The main characters go to Ripley High, a school for kids with special abilities. Some of these abilities are talking to animals, controlling the weather, using mental telepathy, and having herculean strength. The kids with the most powerful capabilities are part of a club with important missions. They travel all around the world to investigate strange sightings. In this book, the first of the series, three kids—Zia, Jack, and Kobe—go to the Everglades following sightings of a lizard-man creature residing there. In Florida, the kids run into some troubles when another group—DUL—starts interfering with the mission. DUL is short for Department of Unbelievable Lies, and their mission is to make the RBI troupe into a laughingstock by preventing them from completing missions. Almost every chapter ended on a cliffhanger and at the end of the book, I was left craving more. The RBI books are short and easy to read, and will probably be best suited for younger readers and those kids who are challenged by longer works.
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REVIEW FROM BOOKLIST, BOOK LINKS, BOOKLIST ONLINE
Ripley's RBI: A Scaly Tale
The premise of this first entry in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! RBI series is a little convoluted. Ripley High, located in the former home of the creator of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, is now home to students with special powers. The best of the best are inducted into Ripley’s Bureau of Investigation (RBI), a hitech operation that sends kids on dangerous missions around the world, Where they, like the Ripley’s series of old, try to separate fact from fiction. Solid graphic elements help sort this all out, with visual
introductions to the RBI team, both teachers and students. In this adventure, something has been spotted in the Florida Everglades that seems to be half man, half reptile. What can it be? After several close calls, the team is met with an answer that seems far-fetched until one reads the appended real-life case files. With all the graphic elements, including sidebar facts on smart phone images, this should especially tempt reluctant readers. This title will lead kids right into the follow-ups, including The Dragon’s Triangle, Running Wild, and Secrets of the Deep (all 2010).
— Ilene Cooper
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REVIEW FROM MIDWEST BOOK REVIEWS
Ripley's RBI: A Scaly Tale
Children's Bookwatch:
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
Midwest Book Review
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"A Scaly Tale" is the first book in a series from Ripley's RBI that is specially aimed at boys and reluctant readers, ages 7-8 and up. A teenage detective team called the RBI team care to seek the answer to mysterious sightings of a strange lizard-like creature seen near Ripley High, in the Florida swamplands. Laced with fast action, hip, smart kids, and surprises around every page-corner, "A Scaly Tale" is sure to win a fast following among young adult readers. Complete with trading cards for some of the notable characters and suspects, "A Scaly Tale" puts a few top talented teens in charge of RBI (short for Ripley's Bureau of Investigation) action to solve the mystery and find the scaly sources and clues.
"A Scaly Tale" is succeeded by three more adventure RBI tales of diverse teens who travel on investigations to decipher "fact from fiction." The other three are "The Dragon's Triangle," "Running Wild," and "Secrets of the Deep."
