Digging Up Dessa play at Northwestern University

12-year-old Dessa is always exploring and discovering science as much as she can, but after the tragic loss of her father and then moving to a new place, she struggles to adjust to life as she now knows it. The mysterious appearance of a remarkable friend — the pioneering 19th-century English paleontologist Mary Anning — helps Dessa find solace in science. After a field trip to a museum reveals that history has buried Mary Anning’s legacy because of her gender, Dessa decides that she’s going to fight to earn her hero the credit she deserves. With help from her once-rival, Nilo, Dessa sets to work unearthing the secrets hidden beneath the surface of the past and present — for Mary Anning’s history and her own future.

12-year-old Dessa is always exploring and discovering science as much as she can, but after the tragic loss of her father and then moving to a new place, she struggles to adjust to life as she now knows it. The mysterious appearance of a remarkable friend — the pioneering 19th-century English paleontologist Mary Anning — helps Dessa find solace in science. After a field trip to a museum reveals that history has buried Mary Anning’s legacy because of her gender, Dessa decides that she’s going to fight to earn her hero the credit she deserves. With help from her once-rival, Nilo, Dessa sets to work unearthing the secrets hidden beneath the surface of the past and present — for Mary Anning’s history and her own future.