by Sally M. Walker. (Carolrhoda, 2009. ISBN 9780822571353. Order
Info.) Nonfiction. 144 pages. Grades 6-12. This outstanding
nonfiction book provides a great way to take advantage of the
current popularity of forensics and its hip TV scientists by
bringing forensics into the history and science curriculum. The
discovery of 17th century graves in and around Jamestown,
Virginia is covered by the on-the-scene author who follows the
scientists as they work to uncover mysteries about the bodies of
a Captain, an African slave girl, an upper class woman and more.
The cover has a creepy, haunting feel suitable for a book about
bones and uncovering corpses. The photographs throughout the
book of the archaeologists, the grave sites and the human
remains are striking and informative. Students who are eager for
forensics on the bodies in the graves will have to read through
a discussion of soil conditions and signs in the dirt of the
original Jamestown fort and grave outlines before they get to
the more tantalizing analy