Dactyl Hill Squad

It's 1863, and dinosaurs roam the streets of New York as the Civil War rages between raptor-mounted armies down South.

Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are on a field trip when the Draft Riots break out, and a number of their fellow orphans are kidnapped by an evil magistrate, Richard Riker. Magdalys and her friends flee to Brooklyn and settle in the Dactyl Hill neighborhood, where black and brown New Yorkers have set up an independent community - a safe haven from the threats of Manhattan.

Together with the Vigilance Committee, they train to fly on dactylback, discover new friends and amazing dinosaurs, and plot to take down Riker.

Can Magdalys and the squad rescue the rest of their friends before it's too late?


Genre: Children's Fiction

"An extraordinary adventure full of heart and imagination that adults will enjoy reading just as much as kids! This is the story that would've made me fall in love with reading when I was a kid." - Tomi Adeyemi

"This incredible story brings history to life with power, honesty, and fun." - Laurie Halse Anderson

"A crackling fantasy adventure full of thrilling scenes." - James Alan McPherson

"Kids, the Civil War, and dinosaurs -- action doesn't get any better than this!" - Tamora Pierce

"Dactyl Hill Squad is an engaging, lively adventure with a heroine I wish I were, in a world I didn't want to leave." - Jesmyn Ward

"In this Tyrexcellent historical realignment -- fast paced, but deceptively packed with amazing detail -- Older's uprising of sheroes and heroes grips, stomps, and soars from start to finish." - Rita Williams-Garcia

"Daniel has imagined the unimaginable and in doing so sends readers on a dino thrill ride. I have been talking about this book nonstop! The kids, the dinosaurs, the Civil War, this book is true fire. It is everything I didn't even know I needed." - Jacqueline Woodson