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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Based on Wanda’s excellent review, as well as my own fondness for ancient Egypt, I picked up this young adult book to see what I was missing. I found it reasonably entertaining, although I couldn’t help wishing it was fleshed out a little further.
April has been sent to live with her grandmother and she is resenting it. All of that changes when she meets the upstairs girl, Melanie, her precocious four-year-old brother, Marshall, and his adorable stuffed octopus, Security. They start out telling stories with Melanie’s elaborate paper families but it soon progresses into playacting when they discover an apparently abandoned back yard. Other people are added to their imaginative play. Imagination time becomes compromised when a real-life murder occurs in a nearby neighborhood and their parents are reluctant to allow them outside.
“Well,” April and Melanie said to each other–only just with a look, not out loud, “wasn’t that like a boy. They got things into a mess and then expected a girl to get them out of it.”
I think this would have been a perfect book for me around age nine. Themes involve friends, differences, imagination and secrets. April’s loss of her home with her mother is one of the themes that weaves through the background, adding a humanizing touch to her and showing the way these issues can be processed in the background and not always need processing out loud. Characters, particularly the three that begin the game, seem reasonably well developed. I particularly love the understated way April and Melanie end up become best friends without needing to label it as such. I also liked the way April’s grandmother, Caroline, was portrayed, an understated background role that gave April a chance to develop in her new home. One of the strengths of the book was the feeling of authenticity in their dialogue. Bonus point for having a cast that represented a variety of ethnicities and family structures.
Plotting was fine. I was intrigued by the section with the oracle, as I wasn’t sure where the story was headed, fantastical or real-world, and I’m not sure the children knew either. Some may say that a murder in a children’s book is inappropriate; I disagree. I think it was handled perfectly well, and the children displayed the same self-centeredness that many children in that age group do when coping with such issues. I did find the wrap-up to be somewhat awkward, however. However, an emotionally satisfying ending.
Many young adult books feel the need to pose children and adults in opposing relationships, it was refreshing to encounter adults who allowed kids to get about the business of being kids. The girls are wrapped up in the world of imagination, although they certainly have moments in school and at home where the real world intrudes. I loved the mention of asking a teacher about oracles and leading her off-track. It reminds me of all the games I and my various playmates concocted; the hours spent prepping, the obsessions with getting something ‘right’ according to some mysterious nine-year-old definition of what ‘right’ was.
“When somebody saves your life, it makes him sort of your property, and nobody was going to make fun … with April around.”
Three-and-a-half stars, rounding up because of Egypt and best friends.
April has been sent to live with her grandmother and she is resenting it. All of that changes when she meets the upstairs girl, Melanie, her precocious four-year-old brother, Marshall, and his adorable stuffed octopus, Security. They start out telling stories with Melanie’s elaborate paper families but it soon progresses into playacting when they discover an apparently abandoned back yard. Other people are added to their imaginative play. Imagination time becomes compromised when a real-life murder occurs in a nearby neighborhood and their parents are reluctant to allow them outside.
“Well,” April and Melanie said to each other–only just with a look, not out loud, “wasn’t that like a boy. They got things into a mess and then expected a girl to get them out of it.”
I think this would have been a perfect book for me around age nine. Themes involve friends, differences, imagination and secrets. April’s loss of her home with her mother is one of the themes that weaves through the background, adding a humanizing touch to her and showing the way these issues can be processed in the background and not always need processing out loud. Characters, particularly the three that begin the game, seem reasonably well developed. I particularly love the understated way April and Melanie end up become best friends without needing to label it as such. I also liked the way April’s grandmother, Caroline, was portrayed, an understated background role that gave April a chance to develop in her new home. One of the strengths of the book was the feeling of authenticity in their dialogue. Bonus point for having a cast that represented a variety of ethnicities and family structures.
Plotting was fine. I was intrigued by the section with the oracle, as I wasn’t sure where the story was headed, fantastical or real-world, and I’m not sure the children knew either. Some may say that a murder in a children’s book is inappropriate; I disagree. I think it was handled perfectly well, and the children displayed the same self-centeredness that many children in that age group do when coping with such issues. I did find the wrap-up to be somewhat awkward, however. However, an emotionally satisfying ending.
Many young adult books feel the need to pose children and adults in opposing relationships, it was refreshing to encounter adults who allowed kids to get about the business of being kids. The girls are wrapped up in the world of imagination, although they certainly have moments in school and at home where the real world intrudes. I loved the mention of asking a teacher about oracles and leading her off-track. It reminds me of all the games I and my various playmates concocted; the hours spent prepping, the obsessions with getting something ‘right’ according to some mysterious nine-year-old definition of what ‘right’ was.
“When somebody saves your life, it makes him sort of your property, and nobody was going to make fun … with April around.”
Three-and-a-half stars, rounding up because of Egypt and best friends.
I hated this book. Maybe I read it too young; I don't know. I just didn't like this book, even though the two main characters have the same names as my sister and I. I wonder if it had to do with precocious children...
Such a fantastic children's book, which I somehow missed as a kid although it was written in the late sixties. Read it aloud with Kate and we both loved it!
I read this in middle school and remembered enjoying it. Glad to say it held up well. I didn't remember there being such a diverse cast of characters, which was a pleasant surprise. It's a quick read, well written for middle school, and just generally fun. The plot moves smoothly but simply, and the imagination of the children feels real as they imagine ancient Egypt in the overgrown yard.
This is a book I never read as a child - I found the Green Sky Trilogy by Snyder much more absorbing - and decided to come back to it now.
It is a very realistic book, although it pays homage to fantasy and imagination. The story has all the hallmarks of a book written for children in the late 70's and 1980's: students home on their own, a threat of danger outside of the home, making the most of the materials at hand, etc. I liked the book and could totally see how an elementary school teacher might use it in tandem with social studies unit on ancient civilizations to indirectly teach students information about Egypt. Brilliant.
However, after reading so much modern kids and YA lit, it's hard to come back to this slower-paced book. I probably would have liked it as a young reader in the 1980s, but no as much now.
It is a very realistic book, although it pays homage to fantasy and imagination. The story has all the hallmarks of a book written for children in the late 70's and 1980's: students home on their own, a threat of danger outside of the home, making the most of the materials at hand, etc. I liked the book and could totally see how an elementary school teacher might use it in tandem with social studies unit on ancient civilizations to indirectly teach students information about Egypt. Brilliant.
However, after reading so much modern kids and YA lit, it's hard to come back to this slower-paced book. I probably would have liked it as a young reader in the 1980s, but no as much now.
Such a different idea for a book. I truly enjoyed the adventure and suspense of this novel.
A recent thread on rec.arts.books covered people’s favorite children’s books. I hadn’t heard of this one, and the title intrigued me (I’m a sucker for games), so I went out hunting. April Dawn (not her real name) is the daughter of a Hollywood wannabe who comes to the small town of the story to live with her grandmother. She makes friends with the girl down the hall. Sound a little boring? Well, it’s not, because Snyder has a touch of authenticity rare in children’s books. Most of the ones that I like tend to exaggerate the adults or the children’s experiences, such as the recently read [b: James and the Giant Peach|6689|James and the Giant Peach|Roald Dahl|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320412586s/6689.jpg|2379261] or classics like [b: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang|576335|Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, #1)|Ian Fleming|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1175950916s/576335.jpg|2245507]. Snyder’s world is wonderfully real and alive. The children are sweet and cruel to each other and adults; the adults are understanding and sick. Why, there’s even a “serial” killer in this book. Frightening? Yes, but because we see this through the eyes of children, the scary aspect quickly changes to the drudgery of not being allowed as free a rein to play.
And play is what The Egypt Game is about. April and her friend Melanie are imagineers of the first stripe. Their game is drawn from their mutual fascination for things Egyptian and the convenient vacant junk lot behind the A-Z store. The game is perfectly portrayed–how children can make and follow their rules, but also how they stop in the midst of the game to redefine or add new rules as well.
I prefer children’s books with a little magic in them (or, in the case of Narnia, a lot of magic), so I was delighted to read one in which the magic was of the commonplace sort rather than otherworldly.
And play is what The Egypt Game is about. April and her friend Melanie are imagineers of the first stripe. Their game is drawn from their mutual fascination for things Egyptian and the convenient vacant junk lot behind the A-Z store. The game is perfectly portrayed–how children can make and follow their rules, but also how they stop in the midst of the game to redefine or add new rules as well.
I prefer children’s books with a little magic in them (or, in the case of Narnia, a lot of magic), so I was delighted to read one in which the magic was of the commonplace sort rather than otherworldly.
The Egypt Game is a perfectly fine book for older kids or young adults. It's fun, it moves along nicely, it has an amazingly multicultural cast that isn't belabored, and there are a few real scares in the book. On the other hand, reading it as an adult, it isn't a lot more. It's a very straightforward story, and most of the ending could have been predicted within the first thirty pages, as long as you also looked at the cover. That is not the end of the world. It merely means it's a good, fun book for kids instead of a classic that I can see adults returning to again and again. (Or is it just me who does that?)
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
I really enjoyed this book when I was little. I remember little about it now, but I hope to own a copy to pass on to my daughter in a few years.