A fascinating, informative insider’s look at how science is used to reconstruct the past.
The discovery of a skull by construction workers begins an archaeological mystery.
In Albany, New York, in 2005, workers putting in a new sewer line dug up a skull. After police confirmed the skull was not connected to any recent crimes, a team of archaeologists took a closer look. They determined the skull was from an African-American who had died more than 100 years earlier. Scientists excavated more bones and realized that they had located a long-forgotten slave cemetery. This site became just the third slave cemetery ever to be excavated in the North. Huey, an archaeologist for the state of New York, offers an insightful, intimate look at the processes used to excavate the site, how the remains are examined in the laboratory, DNA studies, facial reconstruction, and the historical research required to try to find specific information about the slaves buried at the site. Huey shows how laboratory tests revealed important information about the slaves buried in that cemetery and others, such as their ages and health at the time of death, their diets, and even the region of Africa they originated from.
A fascinating, informative insider’s look at how science is used to reconstruct the past. (diagrams, photos, glossary, source notes, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-3393-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote...
Two republished tales by a Greco-Cherokee author feature both folkloric and modern elements as well as new illustrations.
One of the two has never been offered south of the (Canadian) border. In “Coyote Sings to the Moon,” the doo-wop hymn sung nightly by Old Woman and all the animals except tone-deaf Coyote isn’t enough to keep Moon from hiding out at the bottom of the lake—until she is finally driven forth by Coyote’s awful wailing. She has been trying to return to the lake ever since, but that piercing howl keeps her in the sky. In “Coyote’s New Suit” he is schooled in trickery by Raven, who convinces him to steal the pelts of all the other animals while they’re bathing, sends the bare animals to take clothes from the humans’ clothesline, and then sets the stage for a ruckus by suggesting that Coyote could make space in his overcrowded closet by having a yard sale. No violence ensues, but from then to now humans and animals have not spoken to one another. In Eggenschwiler’s monochrome scenes Coyote and the rest stand on hind legs and (when stripped bare) sport human limbs. Old Woman might be Native American; the only other completely human figure is a pale-skinned girl.
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote tales. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55498-833-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Starting with a lonely slice of pizza pictured on the cover and the first page, Thornhill launches into a wide-ranging study of the history and culture of food—where it comes from, how to eat it and what our food industries are doing to the planet. It’s a lot to hang on that slice of pizza, but there are plenty of interesting tidbits here, from Clarence Birdseye’s experiments with frozen food to how mad cow disease causes the brain to turn spongy to industrial food production and global warming. Unfortunately, the volume is designed like a bad high-school yearbook. Most pages are laid out in text boxes, each containing a paragraph on a discrete topic, but with little in the way of an organizing theme to tie together the content of the page or spread. Too many colors, too much jumbled-together information and total reliance on snippets of information make this a book for young readers more interested in browsing than reading. Kids at the upper edge of the book's range would be better served by Richie Chevat's adaptation of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2009). (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897349-96-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
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