The Grave Robber's Secret

Gr 5—9—It is the 1800s in Philadelphia, the home of the nation's first hospital. Doctors use bodies robbed from graves to conduct medical research. Robby Hare's father forces him to help dig up the corpses and then sell them to the medical college to help make ends meet. Despite his reluctance, the boy is intrigued by the discoveries that doctors may make from the cadavers. He sees firsthand what they are doing behind the scenes when he is offered a job to help clean at the school. Still, Robby wishes his Da would stop grave robbing. When mysterious William Burke and his daughter come to live in the Hares' boardinghouse, Robby is able to avoid the graveyard by this distraction, but suspects that Burke is involving his father in some possible murders. He must expose their plans before more lives are taken. Myers based this book on the true story of Burke and Hare, who actually murdered people in the 1820s and sold their bodies in Edinburgh, Scotland. She switched the city and took some liberties with the plot; nevertheless, this is a well-written and fascinating look back in time.—Shannon Seglin, Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA