The Curse of King Tut's Tomb

Gr 4–6—Sightings and speculations abound in these rather dense, wide-ranging accounts of creatures, places, and people. Intended to prompt readers' thinking about popular beliefs, established fact, and attempted studies, these titles will best serve where lessons in investigation are wanted. The introductory histories and subsequently accepted and disproven theories move quickly through substantial, sometimes overly condensed information. Readers are asked to consider what happened to the inhabitants of Roanoke, but a real description of the island and the actual English arrivals who disappeared is absent in the history mash. The many quoted 16th-century quatrains of Nostradamus and the modern intersection of U.S. and Russian spy and military efforts connected with Nevada's secret site, Area 51, seem likely to interest an older audience. Atlantis, King Tut, vampires, and werewolves are widely covered elsewhere. The writing is on the dry side, and the use of light tones on dark pages sometimes obscures the text.