Reading the Bones by Canadian author Gina McMurchy-Barber, herself a former archaeology student, is the 1st in her Peggy Henderson series of tween/YA archaeology-based mystery adventures, this installment starring the eponymous heroine who moves in with her aunt and uncle in a small BC town and uncovers an archaeological find while digging up their backyard, which leads to some other discoveries (both of archaeological matters involving the Salish First Nations culture (
Wikipedia) and assorted nefarious plots), free courtesy of Canadian publisher Dundurn, one of our top independent imprints.
This is the iTunes Canada store's featured Free eBook of the Week and was a finalist for the 2009 Silver Birch Award, according to the blurb.
Currently free, probably just until next Monday @
iTunes (available to Canadians and apparently also many countries worldwide, when I spot-check random regional stores like Denmark). Previous Dundurn freebies have also shown up in other venues, so here's some price-drop check linkage @
B&N (also
UK),
Amazon (also
UK),
Kobo & Google Play (version
#1 &
#2).
If it happens you like this one and would like to try more, there's a money-saving omnibus of #1-3 which is couponable @
Kobo (but generally seems to be rather cheaper pre-couponage in other venues).
And this has been the (late!) selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.
Because award-nominated adventure mystery with a local BC setting + archaeology + First Nations culture. This is so Relevant To My Interests™ that it's like a hat trick of win and awesome.
Enjoy!
Description
Due to circumstances beyond her control, 12-year-old Peggy Henderson has to move to the quiet town of Crescent Beach, British Columbia, to live with her aunt and uncle. Without a father and separated from her mother, who's looking for work, Peggy feels her unhappiness increasing until the day she and her uncle start digging a pond in the backyard and she realizes the rock she's been trying to pry from the ground is really a human skull.
Peggy eventually learns that her home and the entire seaside town were built on top of a 5000-year-old Coast Salish fishing village. With the help of an elderly archaeologist, a woman named Eddy, Peggy comes to know the ancient storyteller buried in her yard in a way that few others can – by reading the bones.