In 1920 a missionary brought two young girls to an orphanage in India. The girls didn't know how to talk, walk, or eat from a plate. Some people thought the girls had been abandoned by their parents. Some people said the girls were brought up by wolves in the wild. Still others thought that the missionary who ran the orphanage made up the story about the girls. No one knows for sure.

Become a detective as you read this true story, study the clues, and try to figure out the fate of the wolf girls of Midnapore. The Unsolved Mystery from History series is written by acclaimed author Jane Yolen and former private investigator Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple. Read carefully and check your clues. You might be the first to solve a puzzle that has baffled people for years. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Another addition to the Unsolved Mystery from History series, The Wolf Girls by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple, illus. by Roger Roth, urges readers to act as detectives. The volume presents the evidence, then asks aspiring detectives to evaluate: were two girls brought to an orphanage in India abandoned by their parents or raised by wolves in the wild? (Aug.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 3-5-An unnamed narrator invites readers to investigate a historical mystery. In 1920, two sisters supposedly raised by wolves were taken to an orphanage in India. Joseph Singh, a missionary who cared for the girls after their discovery, offered varying stories as to how they came to be under his care. It's not only a mystery as to who the girls were, but also what the man's true motives were. Investigators are helped along throughout with explanations of such terms as "sal forest" and "bullock." Notes written on lined paper as if from a journal; the words and their definitions, which are set in small boxes; and text in large boxes are all superimposed on double-spread watercolor illustrations. The art serves to put the information offered in proper perspective. Evenhandedness is apparent throughout. The authors mention that scientists doubt the existence of feral children. It is suggested that individuals who seem as if they might be wild often have handicaps such as autism, deafness, or retardation. More telling, "Scientists have concluded that even a healthy child would not survive for long with only an animal mother." This seems to imply that Singh was at least an opportunist. Although the mystery is not solved, four possible explanations are appended, and readers are asked to form their own opinion. Tasty fodder for emerging detectives.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information