Customer Reviews

A Bone From a Dry Sea

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A Bone From A Dry Sea Book Review This book changed completely the way I used to look at ancient civilations and the job of archeologists on searching for the unknown. A Bone From A Dry Sea is a novel by Peter Dickinson which include two related stories that happen at different times. One is about a little girl named Li who is the thinker of her people. Her uncle, Presh, was the leader of the tribe. One day the tribe was attacked and Presh was killed. Incidently, most of the tribe was killed due to a tsunami. Li took the leadership to lead them to a safe place. On the other hand, four million years later, the sea had dried. Vinny was visiting the site where her father worked searching for the fossil remains of our ancestors. There, she was considered their "lucky pet". This young girl found a bone and observed details which weren't even noticed by famous experts. Therefore, leading the team to infer outstanding discoveries and motivatig them to excavate more. This mysterious novel was very realistic and believable. Teenagers can relate to the characters. The story as pretty well developed, still leaving some information out to keep the mystery. It was hard to get bored, there was always something new happening. The first story was too descriptive and took pages to get excited. The ending solved all problems and uncovered mysteries, still leaving a thought in our mind, challenging the author to write a continuation in the future.

I had to read the book "A Bone From A Dry Sea" for school and since no one else in my group wanted to read it, I ended up reading it and loving it. The book tells about the adventures of "Li" a girl who lived in Africa 4 million years ago and the story also talks about the life of a girl named "Vinny" who discovers the remains of a dolphin's shoulder blade and who also discovered some of Li's life when she visited her father in Africa.

Vinny has convinced her mother to let her spend summer vacation with her father in Africa. Her father, Sam, is working in an archeological site in Africa without much success. Vinny comes and accidentaly matches a pair of broken skull and Dr. Hamiska, the leader of the site, begins to call her his lucky charm . Dr. Hamiska takes her to a site without much incident and Vinny finds something that wil change history and the world view of human evolution. Millions of years earlier, in the same place a small girl in-between ape and human begins to open her mind. She lives in a Sea-ape tribe accustomed to life on the beach. Her name is Li and gradually her mind is opening up to the world around her. A large current of problems makes the tribe look to her for help and her decision will forever change the future of humanity. A Bone From A Dry Sea is an interesting view into the world of paleontology and the cornerstone of evolution from ape to human. The author chose a unique way of writing by telling the story of these two girls in separate worlds by alternating chapters. Every chapter alternates between past and present. You begin to notice that what happens in the past world is repeated in the present. For example, a male begins to battle the dominant male for power and the same kind of battle for dominance occurs with Dr. Hamiska and Vinny's father. Which goes to show that some things never change.

Loved this book... hard to put down.

"A Bone Fromm A Dry Sea" tells the story of Vinny... and her ancient ancestor Li, who lived millions of years ago. Now, Vinny has found a shoulder blade... the blade of a dolphin that lived long ago

There are really two, very parallel, stories told in this book, and they are only separated by a couple of million years. In the present, a young teenager named Vinny has convinced her mother to let her spend summer vacation with her father in Africa. Her father, Sam, is working in an archeological site in Africa without much success. Vinny turns out to be his good luck charm. Flip back to the past and we see a teenager called Li that is half-ape, half-human that thinks way beyond her time. Each chapter goes back and forth between past and present. A couple of times I was lost in the paleontology talk and the present storyline was a bit boring, but I liked the author's way of describing the past storyline.

A Bone From a Dry Sea is an overall good book. Allthough some parts were I admit a little boring the book brings up some very important topics. I felt I could relate to the present main charactor Vinny. Li was another question. Even though it was hard to relate to Li, I found the part of the book concerning her to be very interesting. The way Li thought and used trial and error was what kept the book interesting, that and the parts of Vinny getting to know her dad...

I wasn't to enthralled about reading the book at first to get extra credit in my biology class, but as I began to read more the more interesting it got. The expression of two different lives throughout the story is really cool! Its a must read!!

The book was great and people don't appreciate the topics stated in the book. Many people just skimmed through the book and found it horrible but if you read it for meaning, you will find the book to be very good.

I think that Mr. Dickinson does some great things in his book. He develops the charcters very well and uses them in a very good way. I think the set up of the book was a wonderful way to get the information across, though it was complicated at times. The story line was thin, but was some what saved by the great characters, and excellent descriptions. I think it was good but could have room for much improvement!

I recently joined a new book club with my local museum. I am planning on being a teacher and thought it would be could to give this book club a dry run before I am in a classroom. This is the book I selected to read.

It had a nice pace. I enjoyed the author's choice of volleying between two time periods having both stories converge. Although this was a fictional read, I felt like I was right there in Africa on a dig. The author included many modern day issues political, professional and personal. I also felt like I was right there millions of years ago watching a story play out. As you read, you think that maybe we are not so different from our ancestors afterall. It was a fun escape.