- historical fiction set in Ancient Egypt, well-researched
- a boy discovers an ongoing crime while also gaining true friends
- he is occasionally abused (verbal & beatings) by his evil half brother
- convo: frequent prayers & chants to Egyptian gods, curses (i.e., “By Amon”) khefts (ghosts) mentioned, beer & wine mentioned, executions by upside down hanging are mentioned, some lying
- language: x3 stupid, frequent name calling (some examples: donkeyhead, worthless one, son of a jackal, tardy one, fatherless one, scum)
Type: chapter book
Ages: 9-12
Author: Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Ranofer, the main boy, has wanted nothing more than to be a master goldsmith like his recently deceased father; however, his half-brother arranges jobs for him that do not allow for that career path. Once Ranofer discovers that he is being used for his brother’s crimes, he seeks a way for justice to be served without implicating himself.
As I mentioned in another review, these secular Ancient Egypt stories provide the Christian an easy topic of discussion: that of our bright and eternal hope in God the Creator of all things, compared to their dark, fear-filled superstitions and false gods.
This is a fast-paced and captivating story. I did appreciate, however, that McGraw broke up the intense scenes with sweet times of friendship and other appeasing situations. This is one of the reasons I gave it a lower age range than her Mara: Daughter of the Nile, which you can read about here. It includes, however, a higher level of vocabulary that even older children might need to look up in a dictionary from time to time.
Make time to finish the ending when you approach it or it’ll distract you all day till you can return to the book! If you’re okay with the above points, this would make a great read-aloud for your family.