Amie Rose Rotruck (Children's Literature)
Over 2,000 years ago, the busy Roman city of Pompeii was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Since its re-discovery and excavation in the 1700s, it has offered invaluable information about the past (some of which has been lost to looters). James Deem provides budding archeologists with this intriguing look at the lost town. The first chapter gives a bit of history and background of the town itself, while the rest of the book is devoted to looking at the town from an archeological standpoint. Chapter Two details how the city was eventually rediscovered and became one of the most famous archeological sites in the world. Chapter Three is entirely dedicated to describing how many of the bodies left imprints in the ash, imprints that one could use to create plaster casts of the victims. Chapter Four explains how these casts help historians re-create the last moments of the victims and even tell a bit about their lives. Chapter Five describes the lesser-known town of Herculaneum, also a victim of Vesuvius. The final chapter describes Pompeii in the modern world, from new techniques for creating casts to threats to the city. This detailed yet easily comprehensible text is accompanied by numerous color photographs. A must for any student researching a report on Pompeii. 2005, Houghton Mifflin, $16.00. Ages 8 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2006)
The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction of the bustling city of Pompeii are brought to life in this fascinating exploration of the bodies that have been found and the stories they tell. Unlike other Pompeii stories, which explain the tectonics involved in the great disaster, Bodies from the Ash focuses on human and cultural life in Pompeii. It documents the painstaking recovery and interpretation of artifacts that were ironically preserved by the very heat that killed the citizens. James Deem’s book is stuffed with photos of archaeological sites and artifacts, as well as maps and artwork that serve as primary source documents. He explains how plaster casts are made of preserved bodies and some of the basic science that goes into the identifying and cataloging remains. Based on the location of certain bodies, the clothes that they were wearing, and the angle at which their bones were crushed, archaeologists and historians can tell an amazing amount of information about the homes and the people in them, including their class, their health, and exactly what they might have been doing at the moment the volcano blew. CCBC Category: Historical People, Places, and Events. 2005, Houghton Mifflin, 50 pages, $16.00. Ages 9-14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 20))
This fascinating exploration of the buried city of Pompeii begins with a recreation of the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius and ends with a snapshot of Pompeii today. In between are packed details of the various excavations that have led to our current knowledge of both the life and death of the city. Weaving in the contemporary account of Younger Pliny and the archaeological evidence, the narrative meticulously describes the effects of the various stages of the eruption on the inhabitants and the topography of Pompeii and its neighboring communities. The city's rediscovery receives equally careful coverage, a whole chapter covering Giuseppe Fiorelli's revolutionary technique of creating plaster casts of the victims from the cavities left by their bodies. Avoiding the opportunity to sensationalize, Deem's consistently respectful treatment places the humanity of the victims at the fore. One signal weakness, however, is that the photographs that generously illustrate this volume are not identified or dated within the caption, leaving readers in the dark as to what is archival and what is modern. (bibliography, index) 2005, Houghton Mifflin, 48p, $16.00. Category: Nonfiction. Ages 8 to 12. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

CBC Reviewer (National Science Teachers Association (NSTA))
This attractive NSTA/CBC award-winning volume offers a deeper than usual coverage of the destruction of Pompeii by a volcano in the first century A.D. Recently discovered letters from a Roman historian provide actual accounts of the timeline and the stages of the eruption, making this book appropriate as a supplement to Earth science content related to volcanism. The author was given access to buildings that are normally closed to the public, enabling him to offer rare images to support the text. The book is ideal for the development of interdisciplinary thematic units, blending science, social studies, and geography in middle school---although the reading level of the text will be challenging at that level. A bibliography and index support further research. Grades K-8. Keywords: Archaeology, Volcanoes, * Outstanding Science Trade Book *. 2005, Houghton Mifflin Company, 50p, $16. Ages 5 to 14.

John E. Dockall (Science Books and Films (Vol. 43, No. 1))
In this volume, author James Deem has produced a wonderful work on the destruction of Pompeii during the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in a.d. 79. The book may appear small, but it is well packed with accurate information related to the events prior to and during the eruption. Multiple lines of evidence from written history, geology, and archaeology are employed to provide the reader with an account of this historical occurrence. Bodies from the Ash incorporates key fundamental aspects of scientific inquiry and the scientific process of investigation and logically directs the reader through that process. Elementary and secondary school students, teachers, and parents of students would all benefit from this wonderful book. The illustrations are well done and appropriate to the purpose and direction of the text, which is well written and is an excellent example of scholarly research. The book would be valuable as an example of using multiple lines of evidence to document significant historic events from the remote past. It would also serve as an excellent general reference for world history. Index; C.I.P. Highly Recommended, Grades 5-12. 2006, Houghton Mifflin, 50pp., $16.00. Ages 10 to 18.

Elizabeth Bush, Reviewer (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December 2005 (Vol. 59, No. 4))
Ever since the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii were re-exposed in the eighteenth century, spectators have been morbidly fascinated by the remains and traces of victims caught at the instant of death. Deem looks at the disaster itself (which he revisits in considerably grim detail), at archaeological practices at the sites over time, and at tourists’ experiences of the sites. This book also examines the evidence scientists use to reconstruct the deadly timeline of the A.D. 79 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and to determine why some fleeing or trapped citizens left skeletal remains, while others left fossil-style depressions from which the now famous plaster casts were made. Plentiful illustrations, the majority in black and white, are sharply reproduced and utterly captivating. Deem concludes with a chapter on the present state of neglect at the excavation and the peril which artifacts face now that they are exposed to the elements. A bibliography and index are included. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, Houghton, 50p, $16.00. Grades 5-8.

Valorie Thompson (The Kutztown Book Review, Fall 2006)
This is a non-fiction photo essay about the destruction of Pompeii after the eruption of Vesuvius. It uses photos and archaeological data to reconstruct the events that led to the sudden destruction of a city and the preservation of a culture in time. One of the best non-fiction sources I’ve seen. The text is kept interesting and is written in a story- like format, while staying historically accurate. The pictures are phenomenal, and will definitely interest the otherwise apathetic student. They are slightly graphic (the same way pictures of mummies would be), but I don’t think it’s a problem. I highly recommend this to enhance a history class or simply provide high-interest non-fiction reading, which is sometimes hard to find. Category: Non-Fiction. 2005, Houghton Mifflin, $16.00. Ages 11 to 18.

Marsha Harper (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 18, No. 4))
Author James Deem has written numerous books of fiction and nonfiction. Two of his best-known works are Bodies From the Bog and 3 NBS of Julian Drew, both of which have won awards from the American Library Association. In this book he returns to one of his lifelong interests: the ruins of Pompeii. He explicates for young readers the burial of Pompeii by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 29, also the excavations done centuries later. Pompeii was a prosperous city and, with some 20,000 residents, one of the largest in the Roman Empire. Its people did not know the neighboring mountain was a volcano until it erupted with sudden violence and killed virtually all inhabitants. Deem’s chapter on the stages of the eruption is fascinating and quite detailed. The rest of the book tells of the rediscovery of Pompeii and its excavations, which did not even begin until the mid-1700s. The plaster bodies of Pompeii are one of the most striking relics of the site and Deem gives them much attention. In 1863 an archaeologist named Fiorelli decided to preserve the human remains lying in hollow spaces in the volcanic ash by pouring plaster into the hollows. The result is a good reproduction of the bodies. Deem gives an overview of the information gleaned from these casts. His text, while accurate, is not overly technical but can be read with understanding by many youngsters in 5th or 6th grade. A chapter on Herculaneum, a city on the other side of the mountain which was buried by the same eruption, and a final chapter reporting recent work at the site, conclude the narrative. A map of Pompeii is attached, also a bibliography and index. Photographs and other art work add more interest to a book that will surely intrigue readers in middle school and up. Nonfiction (937). Grades 5 and up. 2005, Houghton Mifflin, 50p., $16.00. Ages 10 to 15.