Neandertals: A Prehistoric Puzzle (Discovery!)

Yvette La Pierre is the author of Ghana in Pictures. She also wrote Josephina's World, which is one of the Pleasant Company American Girl books. She is a former editor of National Parks magazine.

Grade 6 Up—Who were the Neandertals? Why did they die out? How are modern humans related to them? These questions and others are addressed in La Pierre's lively and intriguing study. The author begins with the first fossil discoveries and continues by showing how scientists have struggled to determine Neandertals' connection to Homo sapiens and how they lived. The text includes sharp color photos of skeletal remains, black-and-white portraits of scientists, and artists' varied interpretations of how Neandertals looked. La Pierre clearly describes the varying viewpoints on their physiology as well as culture. The glossary definitions are often too technical to be useful to beginning anthropologists, but the extensive bibliography gives budding researchers plenty of current articles to examine. A short list of further reading includes appealing fiction as well as nonfiction. Little has been published specifically on Neandertals for a younger audience, and this book will make a great addition to the anthropology section of both public and school libraries.—Denise Schmidt, San Francisco Public Library, CA
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