McGraw’s writing transports the reader right back into Ancient Egypt – and unlike most of the books I’ve read, which tend to hover around the royal families and their glamorous lives in the palaces, the story is about the people in the middle class. It’s been at least fifteen years since I last read this book, but I think I enjoyed it just as much as I did back then. Soon, Ranofer suspects that his brother is still stealing, but instead of targeting goldsmiths he has picked a far greater prize: the tombs of the dead! When he confronts, Gebu, his brother retaliates by pulling Ranofer from the goldsmith’s and forcing him to work in Gebu’s stonecutting workshop instead. When small amounts of gold goes missing from the shop, Ranofer suspects his brother is involved. More than anything, he wishes to become a goldsmith, too – but after the death of his parents, his older half-brother Gebu refused to pay for his training. Ranofer is a porter in a goldsmith’s shop, lowlier than even the apprentices. I was also curious to see how well the book has held up over the years – will I still enjoy it as an adult? When I started interning at the local Egyptian museum earlier this year, I decided to re-read it since teachers were still using it during their Ancient Egypt units, and kids would mention it when I led school tours. This was probably one of my top ten favorite books when I was a kid.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |