The Bioarchaeology of Children: Perspectives from Biological and Forensic Anthropology (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology, Series Number 50)

Three stars is a bit un-generous and, for the right purpose, this book deserves more. I was looking for an intelligent, not dumbed-down synthesis. Certainly the book is intelligent, well researched, apparently encyclopedic. It is an excellent reference. What it is NOT (at least for me) is a book to read through. This is why: (1) I found the retention of the notes in the middle of the text very distracting. Although I am sure you can get used to it, it really breaks up the continuity between sentences. The fact that the book IS so very well noted aggravates the problem of reading through the notes in the text. (2) A great deal of knowledge about skeletal anatomy is assumed. Although I am reasonably well-read, I do not know the names of all of the the skeletal parts and the potential medical abnormalities, which made parts of the book read like a foreign language. A glossary would have been helpful to me. (3) The information felt very "episodic" to me -- not much more than a paragraph on any topic. This made it hard to stay engaged, because each topic was over just as I was becoming interested.
None of the foregoing should matter if what you are looking for is a reference to go to - like an encyclopedia - for direction. My issues were with the disconnect between what I wanted (an intelligent reading experience) and what I now think is the book's purpose.