The Buried Bones Mystery (Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs Series #1) Book

DEM BONES GONNA RISE AGAIN

With their neighborhood basketball court destroyed by vandalism, Ziggy, Rashawn, Jerome, and Rico don't know how they're going to spend summer vacation. Then Ziggy has a brilliant idea (Ziggy is always getting brilliant ideas) they can start a club, with secret meetings and code words and special treasures.

And so the four friends become the Black Dinosaurs, with a terrific clubhouse they build in Ziggy's backyard. But when the boys try to hide their treasures, they're swept up in a mystery more intriguing -- and scary -- than anything they could have imagined. Who could have buried a box of bones behind their clubhouse? And why is old Mr. Greene lurking around late at night, singing "Dem bones gonna rise again"? Trust Ziggy to come up with a daring plan to find some answers....

DON'T MISS ANY OF THE EXCITING ADVENTURES OF THE BLACK DINOSAURS

Children's Literature

School is finally out for the summer and Ziggy, Jerome, Rico, and Rashawn anticipate endless hours of fun playing basketball—until they discover the neighborhood courts have been vandalized. Luckily, Ziggy comes up with an idea to salvage the weeks ahead: a club called The Black Dinosaurs. Enthusiasm restored, the friends build a clubhouse and collect secret treasures. After sharing the treasures, they bury them for safekeeping and come across another box filled with bones. Determined to find out whose they are, they set out to solve the mystery. Jerome's grandmother says the cemetery formerly next to their clubhouse is now beneath an apartment building. Then Ziggy sees Mr. Greene, a grumpy old recluse, next to their clubhouse at night with a flashlight singing, "Them bones gonna rise again!" The boys spend the night there and, sure enough, catch Mr. Greene digging up the box of bones. He tries to frighten them, then breaks into tears, explaining that his grandfather, an ex-slave, was buried there. The box contains other freed slaves' bones which had become unearthed and placed in the current container by his father and him so their spirits could rest in peace. Number one in the "Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs" series, this book's strength is also its weakness. The author incorporates interesting aspects of African-American culture that some feel is excessive (a black Barbie, passwords like Tuskegee and Nairobi). A sprinkling of culture benefits any story; an overload could leave readers feeling excluded.