Author Index

Title Index

The first time Melanie meets April she doesn't think they will have anything in common.  But Melanie and April both realize that they like things relating to ancient Egypt.  One day they stumble upon a deserted yard behind the A-Z Antiques and Curio Shop. They begin playing the Egypt game. Soon there are six players instead of two. After school and on weekends they meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on secret codes.  Everyone thinks it's a game until strange things begin happening.  Have Melanie and the other five gone too far?

I really like this book because it is sad, funny, and scary.  It is sad because April is sent to live with her grandmother when her mom is put in charge of a big tour.  April is dying to go back to Hollywood and asks in her letters when she can come back, but her mom never answers that question.  It is funny when Toby wants to join the Egypt game and is acting really weird in school so none of the boys realize that he plays with girls.  It is scary when April goes to Egypt (the deserted yard) one night to find her math book and she finds a strange man hiding there.

I would recommend this book to children in third, fourth, and fifth grades.  It is full of adventure on every page.

Spring 2002

Melanie, an eleven-year-old, African-American girl who is very interested in Egypt
Marshal, her brother, is four and always carries around a stuffed octopus
April, also eleven years old, has been left with her grandmother while her mother is on business.
Elizabeth, a quiet, nine-year-old,Chinese girl, who joins the Egypt Game after it has started. Other characters are Ken and Toby,  eleven year-old boys who help to decorate the vacant lot where they play the Egypt game.

In The Egypt Game there is a murder, and the parents don’t let the children play outside. On Halloween, the Egypt game players sneak away from their group of Treat-or-Treaters to play the game. Read the book to find out what happens next.

1/11/99