Bodies From the Ash: Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii by James M. Deem. Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

Details must make sense and matter to the story. Does it matter that eighty-one loaves of bread were baking? I’m not sure. Regardless, more notes:

• I’ve noticed that the writing style is not very different between books for YA and MG. There’s no obvious attempt to limit vocabulary between this and, say, the book on Marian Anderson, The Voice that Challenged a Nation. 
• Interesting how despite being a vision into ancient times there are abundant details. Especially science integration on how the flows worked and how the heat seared flesh from bone, boiled blood, etc. Vivid and creepy—perfect for nine-year-old St. Nick who swiped this book and now has it squirreled away in his room.