Jason's (age 10) rating 5 stars, my rating (much older than Jason) 3 stars...so we averaged out at 4 starsI won this book in the Goodreads first reads giveaway. The book arrived a few days ago and disappeared from my to-read pile. My 10 year old son found it. Fascinated by the subject matter - fossils and some sort of mystery, my son proceeded to read. And read. He did not put the book down. He then surprised me by saying that he finished the book. He liked the characters, the mystery, and that the book had very short chapters. Not bad for a reluctant reader. It gave him a sense of accomplishment. Jason says - 5 stars.So I sat down to read the story. Set in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, it is the story of a young girl who had recently lost her father in a tragic accident. Grace is 13 and an avid fossil hunter. She searches for fossils with her friends in abandoned mines. One day, Grace receives an anonymous note that her father's death was not an accident. Grace and her friends set out to solve the mystery.As a childrens' novel the book had an easy to follow storyline. The kids are the heroes in this book, and most of the adults are scary villains. There is just the right amount of action and suspense. My only concern was that the kids were hunting for fossils in rather dangerous places. This book would appeal to school aged children and younger teens. The characters act like kids. There is also a great environmental theme running throughout the book. A solid effort on a first book published. Jason and I look forward to reading more books by this author.
