"Reading the Bones"
Gina McMurchy-Barber
Mystery/Realistic Fiction
Grades 4 - 7
148 pages
When I was shelving books one day I picked this one up, read the back, and was intrigued to see that it was set in Crescent Beach (one of my favourite places, and only 15 minutes from here!). It turned out to be a great read. 12-year-old Peggy Henderson is staying with her aunt and uncle at Crescent Beach while her mom looks for work in Toronto (her father passed away 7 years previously). She misses her mom and Aunt Margaret is a real drag, criticizing everything Peggy does -- she doesn't seem to understand her at all. One day, Peggy and her uncle are digging a big hole in the yard to make a pond and they make a shocking discovery: a human skull! It turns out that the bones in the backyard are very old, an ancient burial of a Coast Salish man. Peggy helps Dr. McKay, the archaeologist, in her careful task of uncovering the bones and surrounding artifacts. Through the process, Peggy learns that they aren't just old bones, but windows into the past that tell a captivating story of the man's life before he was laid to rest. Now, if only she can keep them safe from the local artifact scavenger....
Gina McMurchy-Barber
Mystery/Realistic Fiction
Grades 4 - 7
148 pages
When I was shelving books one day I picked this one up, read the back, and was intrigued to see that it was set in Crescent Beach (one of my favourite places, and only 15 minutes from here!). It turned out to be a great read. 12-year-old Peggy Henderson is staying with her aunt and uncle at Crescent Beach while her mom looks for work in Toronto (her father passed away 7 years previously). She misses her mom and Aunt Margaret is a real drag, criticizing everything Peggy does -- she doesn't seem to understand her at all. One day, Peggy and her uncle are digging a big hole in the yard to make a pond and they make a shocking discovery: a human skull! It turns out that the bones in the backyard are very old, an ancient burial of a Coast Salish man. Peggy helps Dr. McKay, the archaeologist, in her careful task of uncovering the bones and surrounding artifacts. Through the process, Peggy learns that they aren't just old bones, but windows into the past that tell a captivating story of the man's life before he was laid to rest. Now, if only she can keep them safe from the local artifact scavenger....