• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

This three-book bundle collects the adventures of 12-year-old adventurer and bone expert Peggy Henderson. In Reading the Bones, due to circumstances beyond her control, Peggy has to move to the quiet town of Crescent Beach, B.C., to live with her aunt and uncle. She learns that her home and the entire seaside town were built on top of a 5,000-year-old Coast Salish fishing village. With the help of an elderly archaeologist, Peggy comes to know the ancient storyteller buried in her yard in a way that few others can – by reading the bones.
In Broken Bones, a vandalized burial in an abandoned pioneer cemetery brings Peggy and her elderly archaeologist friend Eddy to Golden, British Columbia, to excavate. Since the wooden burial markers disintegrated long ago, Peggy and Eddy have no way of knowing the dead mans identity. But when Eddy discovers the vertebrae at the base of the skull are crushed, a sure sign the cause of death was hanging, they have their first clue.
And in Bone Deep, when archaeologists discover a two-hundred-year-old shipwreck, Peggy decides she’ll do whatever it takes to take part in the expedition. But first she needs to convince her mom to let her go, and to pay for scuba diving lessons. To complicate matters even more, Peggy’s Great Aunt Beatrix comes to stay, and she’s bent on changing Peggy from a twelve-year-old adventure-seeking tomboy to a proper young lady. Help comes in the most unlikely of places when Peggy gets her hands on a copy of the captain’s log from the doomed ship, which holds the key to navigating stormy relationships.

Includes

• Reading the Bones
• Broken Bones
• Bone Deep

Gina McMurchy-Barber is the author of three previous books in the Peggy Henderson adventure series: Reading the Bones (shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award), Broken Bones, and Bone Deep. Her novel Free as a Bird was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. She is also a recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History. Gina lives in Surrey, British Columbia.

Gina McMurchy-Barber's profile page

• Short-listed, Silver Birch Award

McMurchy-Barber has created another suspenseful, humorous, and educational archeological mystery. Peggy's outspoken and sarcastic attitude and enthusiasm, combined with her very real human bias, make her a fallible and believable protagonist who has the capability to change and grow throughout the story. Young readers will identify with her changing emotions and value judgments expressed through her internal thoughts and rants.

CM Magazine