diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cb09a59..d7d7e37 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 Date format: DD/MM/YYYY
 
+## [next]
+
+- Use `DateTime.tryParse` to parse the date ([#18](https://github.com/bdlukaa/books_finder/issues/18))
+
 ## 4.3.0 - [01/05/2022]
 
 - **MINOR BREAKING** Renamed `BookInfo.industryIdentifier` to `BookInfo.industryIdentifiers`
diff --git a/lib/src/scripts/books.dart b/lib/src/scripts/books.dart
index d076e21..b3c6fd1 100644
--- a/lib/src/scripts/books.dart
+++ b/lib/src/scripts/books.dart
@@ -213,35 +213,7 @@ class BookInfo {
     Map<String, dynamic> json, {
     bool reschemeImageLinks = false,
   }) {
-    final publishedDateArray =
-        ((json['publishedDate'] as String?) ?? '0000-00-00').split('-');
-
-    // initialize datetime variable
-    DateTime? publishedDate;
-    if (publishedDateArray.isNotEmpty) {
-      // initialize date
-      int year = int.parse(publishedDateArray[0]);
-      int month = 1;
-      int day = 1;
-
-      // now test the date string
-      if (publishedDateArray.length == 1) {
-        // assume we have only the year
-        year = int.parse(publishedDateArray[0]);
-      }
-      if (publishedDateArray.length == 2) {
-        // assume we have the year and maybe the month (this could be just a speculative case)
-        year = int.parse(publishedDateArray[0]);
-        month = int.parse(publishedDateArray[1]);
-      }
-      if (publishedDateArray.length == 3) {
-        // assume we have year-month-day
-        year = int.parse(publishedDateArray[0]);
-        month = int.parse(publishedDateArray[1]);
-        day = int.parse(publishedDateArray[2]);
-      }
-      publishedDate = DateTime(year, month, day);
-    }
+    DateTime? publishedDate = _getDateTime(json['publishedDate']);
 
     final imageLinks = <String, Uri>{};
     (json['imageLinks'] as Map<String, dynamic>?)?.forEach((key, value) {
@@ -357,4 +329,38 @@ class BookInfo {
         infoLink.hashCode ^
         canonicalVolumeLink.hashCode;
   }
+
+  static DateTime _getDateTime(String? encoded) {
+    encoded ??= '0000-00-00';
+    DateTime? publishedDate = DateTime.tryParse(encoded);
+
+    if (publishedDate != null) return publishedDate;
+
+    final publishedDateArray = encoded.split('-');
+    if (publishedDateArray.isNotEmpty) {
+      // initialize date
+      int year = int.parse(publishedDateArray[0]);
+      int month = 1;
+      int day = 1;
+      // now test the date string
+      if (publishedDateArray.length == 1) {
+        // assume we have only the year
+        year = int.parse(publishedDateArray[0]);
+      }
+      if (publishedDateArray.length == 2) {
+        // assume we have the year and maybe the month (this could be just a speculative case)
+        year = int.parse(publishedDateArray[0]);
+        month = int.parse(publishedDateArray[1]);
+      }
+      if (publishedDateArray.length == 3) {
+        // assume we have year-month-day
+        year = int.parse(publishedDateArray[0]);
+        month = int.parse(publishedDateArray[1]);
+        day = int.parse(publishedDateArray[2]);
+      }
+      publishedDate = DateTime(year, month, day);
+    }
+
+    return publishedDate ?? DateTime(0);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/test/book_finder_test.dart b/test/book_finder_test.dart
index 8000480..78eff56 100644
--- a/test/book_finder_test.dart
+++ b/test/book_finder_test.dart
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ void main() {
     /// .inauthor
     books = await queryBooks(
       'J. K. Rowling',
+      langRestrict: 'en',
       queryType: QueryType.inauthor,
       maxResults: 1,
       printType: PrintType.books,
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ void main() {
     /// .inpublisher
     books = await queryBooks(
       'Scholastic inc',
-      queryType: QueryType.inauthor,
+      queryType: QueryType.inpublisher,
       maxResults: 1,
       printType: PrintType.books,
       orderBy: OrderBy.relevance,