A Bone to Pick

October 1, 2015
At age 13, Peggy already has plenty of experience in archaeology, and she's determined to let everyone know it in this fourth series installment. Peggy feels terribly disappointed when her archaeologist friend Eddy can't take her on a new dig to find evidence of the Vikings at the site of L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. When a job as the cook's helper opens up, Eddy scores it for Peggy. Peggy, however, hates cooking and refuses to follow even the simplest recipe. She wants to spend her time with Eddy's archaeology students on the site, but when she gets the chance, she boasts about her superior knowledge one too many times. Banished, she spends time at the visitors center, where she meets a girl her age, Louise, who has made a pretty impressive find herself. But Louise wants to keep it a secret and excavate it with Peggy's help. Peggy knows that their efforts would destroy the site, but she can't break her promise to Louise to keep it secret. Interwoven with Peggy's story, McMurchy-Barber presents the eventually intersecting story of Sigrid, an ancient Norse girl who dreams of being a warrior instead of a wife. The author confidently presents Peggy as a flawed character with a good heart, and she includes accurate information about the Norsemen. Together with others in the series, this stands as an excellent vehicle to spur interest in archaeology and history. (Fiction. 9-12)

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