Summer of Discovery

Melody Herr

U of Nebraska Press, Jan 1, 2006 - Juvenile Fiction - 111 pages

"A flashing black cloud rolled across the Nebraska prairie. Gaining speed, it rushed on the town. Dave never saw the storm coming."

It is May 1939. David Fletcher is fourteen years old and living in dustbowl Nebraska. He and his buddy Ben Watson are determined to become archaeologists. Their ambitions are jump-started when the mysterious Mr. Daley arrives in their small town, hot on the trail of strange, giant arrowheads discovered by a gang of road workers. With Mr. Daley as mentor and guide, David and Ben spend the summer exploring the past.

As the boys unearth the story of the Great Plains peoples, from the Ice Age hunters through the final days of the Indian Wars, their adventures become an introduction to the complex interactions between human culture and the natural world. Rich with details about the ways in which archaeologists reconstruct the past, Summer of Discovery is as informative as it is entertaining, offering an insider's look at this captivating field through the eyes of two engaging beginners.

Contents

• Dust Storm: 1
• The News Office: 5
• Discovery: 9
• Bones: 15
• Ice Age Hunters: 21
• The First People: 25
• Ash Hollow Cave: 29
• Digging into Time: 35
• Rescue: 41
• ToolMakers of Ash Hollow: 47
• The Buried City: 51
• wild Fire: 55
• The Hermit and the Sack of Corn: 61
• The Scientists: 65
• Search for an American Explorer: 69
• Pikes Trail: 73
• The Final Clue: 77
• American Cowboy: 81
• The First Horse: 87
• Fort Robinson: 91
• Mr Daleys Own Story: 97
• o i A New World: 101
• Authors Note: 105
• Sources: 109

About the author

Melody Herr, PhD, is a historian and a writer.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Summer of Discovery
• Author: Melody Herr
• Publisher: U of Nebraska Press, 2006
• ISBN: 0803273622, 9780803273627
• Length: 111 pages
• Subjects: Juvenile Fiction / Boys & Men; Juvenile Fiction / Historical / United States / 20th Century