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  • Faces from the Past: Forgotten People of North America
  • Elizabeth Bush
Deem, James M. Faces from the Past: Forgotten People of North America. Houghton, 2012. [160p]. illus. with photographs ISBN 978-0-547-37024-8 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 6-10.

Readers familiar with Jackson's The Bone Detectives (BCCB 4/96) and McClafferty's The Many Faces of George Washington (BCCB 6/11) have already considered how forensic sciences and facial reconstructions have been used in the service of crime investigation and envisioning historical figures. Here Deem takes a chronological look at nine cases in which such reconstructions help interpret a specific moment in American history. Each study is a well-polished gem of a tale, framing the details of archaeological excavation, historical background, public policy issues, cultural controversies, and final disposition of the human remains with an unwavering respect for the dignity of the deceased and the communities that claim them. Packed with illustrations (color not seen) and carefully placed sidebar information, this title brings to life such diverse figures as paleoamerican Spirit Cave Man; "Pearl," a slave from eighteenth-century upstate New York; a buffalo soldier whose corpse was reassembled and given an honorable burial; nine persons among the 1,271 bodies found in pauper's graves in an almshouse cemetery. Quotation sources and thorough bibliographic notes for each chapter are included, as well as an index and suggestions for further reading on each topic. A strong choice for independent reading, this will also be a boon to social studies and science teachers in search of classroom readalouds.

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