The Case of the Missing Dinosaur Egg by Martha Freeman

CHARACTERS
    Cameron Parks (Cammie), our narrator, is the ten-year-old daughter of U.S. president Marilee Parks and her husband, Rick. Since Cameron’s mom was inaugurated in January, she has lived in the White House with her extended family.
    Tessa Parks, Cameron’s sister, is seven years old and a drama queen.
    Nathan Leone (Nate) is Cameron and Tessa’s cousin, the only child of their aunt Jen. Nate was born in Korea. Aunt Jen adopted him as an infant and brought him to live with her in San Diego. Now he and Aunt Jen live with Tessa and Cameron’s family in the White House.
    Jennifer Maclaren Leone (Aunt Jen) is Cameron and Tessa’s aunt and Nate’s mom. A widow, she lives with Nate in an apartment on the third floor of theWhite House and acts as First Lady in President Parks’s administration. President Parks is her younger sister.
    Jeremy, Charlotte and Malik are Secret Service agents who help keep the First Family safe.
    Mr. Morgan and Mr. Webb are security officers with the Smithsonian Institution. Previously, they helped Tessa, Cameron and Nate solve the Case of the Ruby Slippers.
    Barbara Maclaren (Granny, aka Judge Maclaren) is Cameron, Tessa and Nate’s grandmother. She used to be a judge in California, and before that a district attorney, and before that a police officer. When Cameron and Tessa’s mom won the presidential election, Granny agreed to come to Washington to help take care of Cameron, Tessa and Nate.
    Willis Bryant is Granny’s special friend. He used to run the White House elevator but now works for Cameron’s family, taking care of their too-energetic dog, Hooligan, on weekdays.
    Jan and Larry (she’s blond, he’s not) are popular local newscasters in Greater Metropolitan Washington.
    Marilee Maclaren Parks (Mom) is Cameron and Tessa’s mom and, since January, the president of the United States. She’s a lawyer, and she used to be a senator from California.
    Rick Parks (Dad) is Cameron and Tessa’s dad. He has a job building airplanes in California, so he is usually in Washington only on weekends. He used to be an air force pilot.
    Mr. Brackbill is the librarian at Cameron, Tessa and Nate’s school.
    Evgenia is in Cameron and Nate’s fifth-grade class. She is very smart and quiet.
    Hooligan is Cameron and Tessa’s dog. He looks like a Dr. Seuss version of an Afghan hound. “Hooligan” is a word that means rowdy, but Hooligan is not really bad. He just has too much energy.
    Ms. Ann Major is a deputy assistant press secretary in the office of President Parks. Her beagle, Pickles, has playdates with First Dog Hooligan.
    Antonia Alfredo-Chin (Toni) is a friend of Cameron, Tessa and Nate’s who also happens to be the niece of the president of a certain nearby nation and the daughter of its ambassador to the United States. She lives in Washington, D.C. Her dog, Ozzabelle, was a gift from Tessa and Cameron.

CHAPTER ONE

    My little sister, Tessa, leaned over and whispered in my ear, “That is the biggest egg I ever saw.”
    True, it was a really big egg. But we were in the audience at a talk at a museum, and we were supposed to be quiet. I shushed my sister, but she ignored me.
    â€œIt makes sense, though, doesn’t it, Cammie?” Tessa said. “Dinosaurs were big. So their babies were big. A big baby needs a big egg.”
    Now my cousin Nate joined in. “They’re called hatchlings, not babies, Tessa.” Nate is ten like me. Tessa is seven.
    Nate’s mom looked over at us, put her finger to her lips and nodded at the man who was talking. On the table in front of him was the gleaming, cream-colored egg.
    I pointed at myself and shrugged, meaning
Me? I didn’t do anything!
, which made Nate’s mom—my aunt Jen—frown.
    Oh, fine.
    It was a Saturday afternoon in April, the week before Easter. Outside, it was a beautiful day. We live in Washington, D.C., and down by the Tidal