Jurassic Girl: The Adventures of Mary Anning, Paleontologist and the First Female Fossil Hunter

by Michele C. Hollow

Genres: Biography, Childrens

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2024

Reviews

[Karen (BaronessBookTrove) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Jurassic Girl by Michele C. Hollow takes a look into what Ms. Mary Anning's life could've looked like when she was a young girl discovering her first fossil.

Can Mary prove to the men in London's Geological Society that she did, in fact, find the ichthyosaurus' complete skeleton?

Mary
During the time period when Ms. Mary Anning lived, she was a knowledgeable young lady who knew what she wanted to do in life. Mary loved learning about fossils and wanted to make a name for herself in the science community, even if that would've been hard as a woman and only twelve at the time. She seemed like an amazing young child who had been doing what she wanted to do for a long time already. I do like Mary.

The Story
Even though Mary had made numerous discoveries over the course of her life, Ms. Hollow decided to focus on her first significant find, which was the complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur in 1811. I appreciate how the author took the liberty of writing a fictional account of how all of that came to be, along with the aftereffects of that discovery, as they might have looked for the Anning family.

Four Stars
My rating for Jurassic Girl by Michele C. Hollow is four stars. I recommend this book for any middle school reader who wants to learn about the Mother of Paleontology's beginnings. Ms. Hollow offers a great starting point for those interested in learning more about paleontology and geology as well.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Jurassic Girl by Michele C. Hollow.

Until the next time,



Happy Reading!This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

“As she talked about her curios, the region, and the history of the area and its fossilized creatures, Mr. Cuvier could clearly recognize Mary’s intelligence. ‘Everyone who’s met her and told me about her was right,’ he thought to himself. ‘She’s well-spoken and quite knowledgeable. Plus she has a hunger to learn.’ (118)

Mary Anning, an actual girl who lived in the early 1800’s, since the age of five loved finding fossils with her father—and sometimes her brother— on the beach of Lyme Regis where her family lived. She also liked to educate people about the importance of fossils. “They provide clues to our past.” (7) By the time she was 12 years old, her family depended on her finds to sell and help support them.

When her father spots the skeleton of a large head sticking out of the cliffs above and falls to his death, Mary and her brother enlist many of the townspeople to build a scaffold so they can safely climb up and carefully, as taught, extricate what turns out to be the remains of an ichthyosaurus which lived during the Jurassic Period.

Because she was an adolescent and a girl, with the help of a fellow female fossil-hunter who had connections with members of London’s Geological Society, she had to convince the Society that it was, in fact, her family’s find and it was authentic.

The story of this strong, resilient female, who became known as the Mother of Paleontology, will be inspirational to readers in upper elementary and middle grade ELA and science classes.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jurassic Girl is an interesting read about real-life Mary Anning who became a famous paleontologist. Mary was a 12-year-old girl of little means and education who followed her passion for digging up fossils and fought for her right to be acknowledged for her discoveries. Although it took almost 100 years more before the London Geological Society accepted women members, I think Mary must have given this idea a giant push in the right direction. The detailed chapters of unleashing her first huge find—an enormous 17-foot-long ichthyosaurus, after her brother found its separated head—are fascinating. I felt like I was right there on the beach with them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many young readers will want to be a paleontologist after reading this story about determined young Mary.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't familiar with Mary Anning before reading this book but quickly became immersed in the story of this young fossil hunter who went on to become a famous paleontologist. I thought the book was well-written and I enjoyed learning more about Anning who was poor and had no formal education, yet followed her dreams. I was sad to read that Anning died at the age of 47 from breast cancer, but appreciate Hollow keeping her memory alive and sharing her incredible story in Jurassic Girl. Although written for children, this book is a fascinating read for all ages.

[Sara Mount · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely, lively book about some of the childhood of Mary Anning. I knew I had to have this book for my STEAM loving daughter when I saw it and it did not disappoint. We loved reading about 12-year-old Mary and it also piqued our interest in learning more about 19th century life, geology, and fossils and introduced some fun new vocabulary.

[FireflySeason2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty solid children's book and caused me to add "the Fossil Hunter" to my Amazon cart.