BE A SCRIBE! Working for a Better Life in Ancient Egypt — Review

Thought for the Day:

“Most of my work consisted of crossing out. Crossing out is the secret of all good writing.
~ Mark Haddon ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Cutting is always something I should do more of in my writing. I’m not good at it. I love my words! HERE Janice Hardy has a great Narrative Nugget on cutting during a revision.

More on revision is always a good thing. HERE Allison Williams at Allison Williams Writing has an excellent post called THE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING TO KNOCK YOUR MANUSCRIPT INTO SHAPE! We all need an occasional kick in the pants. She delivers.

Body language can give a lot of information about our characters. HERE Carla Hoch writes for Writer’s Digest about What Your Character’s Body Language is Saying. She has included seven universal expressions that are really helpful.

My foot surgery went well. I went to sleep, I woke up, and it was done! Very little pain as long as I’m off my feet. I have another five weeks to stay off my feet, and I’m supposed to keep my foot elevated as much as possible. It sounds easy enough, but when you live alone, you often need to get up and do things. I’m trying to be efficient, but it is a lot harder than I thought it would be to sit so much. I am getting a lot of reading done. That’s a bonus. In the adult book category, I just finished THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah. It was really well-written, and a story that needed to be told. For the book review company, I read THIS IS WHY WE LIED by Karin Slaughter. It is the latest book in the Will Trent series. I love the TV show, and I thought it was a terrific book, so I ordered the first three books in the series, and here I am reading another series when I always say I don’t like to read series. I’ll keep you posted. I am, of course, watching some of the Olympics. The opening ceremony was amazing. I always thought handball was something played by a couple of people in a small room. What the heck? It’s more like soccer and rugby had a baby. I love watching equestrian events, gymnastics, skateboarding, canoeing, and diving. Surfing is fun. It’s interesting that it’s happening on the other side of the world from the rest of the games. I certainly have enough to keep me busy while I’m sitting!

I seem to have a little theme going here with books about Ancient Egypt. I think BE A SCRIBE! Working for a Better Life in Ancient Egypt is one of the most interesting books for middle-graders I’ve read in a long time. Most youngsters think about what it would be like to live in other times and places. This book does a great job of transporting young readers to Ancient Egypt through original texts written by a young Egyptian boy from that time. Isn’t that an inviting cover? Kids will eat this one up. Here is the review I wrote for the Portland Book Review.

Nearly four thousand years ago, a man named Khety took his son, Pepi, up the Nile to the capital city so Pepi could attend school. There he learned to read and write, skills that would allow him to be able to have a good job, perhaps even a job as a scribe. But there are other jobs to consider from ancient Egypt such as sculptor, carpenter, barber, farmer, courier, and more—eighteen in all.

A spread is devoted to explaining each of these. Passages from a text written by Pepi, a young scribe during the Middle Kingdom, introduce each spread. There are photographs of art, pottery, jewelry, and other artifacts to help readers understand more about the jobs. In addition, there is a map, a timeline, and several spreads with good advice for young people such as Mind Your Manners and Don’t Play Hooky, also from Pepi’s journal.

The odd turns of phrase and word use are all explained. Modern young readers will find these pretty amusing but at the same time familiar. This is a wonderful book filled with gorgeous graphics that will give youngsters an excellent picture of life in Ancient Egypt. This is a winner. Don’t miss it.

Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.