Lady of the Lines How Maria Reiche saved the Nazca Lines by sweeping the desert

A 100-foot-long spider, a 210-foot-long killer whale, a 325-foot-long hummingbird: these are among the more than 700 gargantuan Nazca geoglyphs (designs made by carving lines in the desert sand thousands of years ago), many of which were uncovered by a determined young woman wearing a pith helmet and wielding a broom in the 1940s Peruvian desert. This picture-book biography of German mathematician, archaeologist, and preservationist Maria Reiche emphasizes both the continuing mystery of who created these enormous sand etchings and the sheer grit of the woman who revealed them. The historical accident of Maria visiting Peru soon after some WWII pilots spotted traces of enormous animals from the air led her to try to fully excavate what the sand had buried. This book shows the hardships she faced (scorching sun, punishing thirst, and ridicule) and the lengths she went to in her quest--going so far, for instance, as to strap herself to a helicopter's landing skids to get an aerial view of the lines. The illustrations, done in acrylic gouache, use multicolored geometric shapes to highlight the geoglyphs, wonderfully capturing their variety and scale. Readers will be left in awe of the geoglyphs themselves and the persistence of the woman who discovered and protected them. A terrific STEM read.

In revelatory prose from Maccoll, this fascinating biography details the efforts of one individual to conserve the shallow figures and shapes etched by an ancient civilization, the Nazca, into the Peruvian desert: Maria Reiche (1903--1998), the German woman whose work led to the geoglyphs' designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. First hired by an American anthropologist to see if the Lines might have served as a star chart, she then dedicated her remaining life to the forms. Acrylic gouache paintings by Chavarri present naturalistic portraits of Reiche sweeping years of accumulated dirt and pebbles out of etchings to reveal the image of "a spider as big as four city buses." Later, Reiche becomes an activist, persuading Peru to preserve the Lines. The work calls attention to an individual who dedicated her life to a cultural treasure and invites readers to solve the puzzle of the Nazca Lines' function. Ample back matter offers further context. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 7--10. (Apr.)

Gr 3--6--Get readers ready to be introduced to their new favorite obsession through the compelling adventure of a woman who refused to leave any path uncrossed. Maria Reiche, German by birth, settled in Peru in 1932 and discovered a passion that would rule the rest of her life. The Nazca people in Peru left carved figures in the desert that were a mystery to all who had seen them. As Reiche studied the lines more, she dedicateed her time to uncovering as much of the carvings as possible to make sense of and catalog the details of her findings. She fought for the protection of these ancient wonders and they are eventually declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. MacColl does an extraordinary job of weaving the nonfiction information into a narrative format that draws readers in to learn more about the Nazca lines. The additional back matter offers excellent context to the story unfolded. Chavarri's illustrations add a vibrancy that feels both realistic and whimsical. VERDICT Aspiring archeologists and adventurers alike in all libraries will benefit from the inspiration Maria Reiche offers in being dedicated to new discoveries.--Lindsey Morrison

A German scientist devotes her life to uncovering and protecting the Nazca Lines in Peru. With a bundle of brooms and an obsession, Maria Reiche orchestrated the preservation of "the Lines," which she first encountered in 1941, when an American anthropologist showed her aerial photographs of them. The series of giant figures, among them a monkey the size of a soccer field and a spider "as big as four buses laid end to end," were etched deeply into the Nazca Desert centuries ago. The Lines remained mostly hidden by sand and dust until Reiche began sweeping them. She worked daily for years under the hot sun, cataloguing the figures and photographing them from a helicopter, and she advocated for their protection from exploitation. Her efforts took a toll on her health, but she remained engaged by their mystery: How were they made? Why were they so big? MacColl's descriptions are accompanied by quotes from Reiche. In 1994 the area was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but the origins of the Nazca Lines remain a mystery, as MacColl details in the extensive backmatter. The engaging narrative is part process story and part biography; Reiche's unwavering commitment is nicely reflected by Chavarri's depiction of her work from a variety of perspectives--close up as the Lines emerge, from above as a figure becomes clear, and then as a sky filled with constellations (Reiche theorized that the Lines were star maps). An inspiring portrait of scientific dedication. (author's note, archival photographs, timeline, selected bibliography, further resources)(Informational picture book. 7-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.