RebeccaGood day dear readers! This year is marching by, and we are beginning to stare 2018 in the face! I am pretty sure that it was only yesterday that we were getting out of school for the summer and planning our exciting summer book plans. Alas, here we are in the holiday trifecta period! These cooler days are perfect for finding new adventures between the pages of books! October has brought us some spooky reads, while November is going to entirely switch gears! Are you ready for our new journey?? Here we go!!
During November, the kiddos are going to be reading “A Lion To Guard Us” by Clyde Robert Bulla (excerpt via goodreads.com):
Amanda Freebold doesn’t know what to do. Her father left three years ago for the new colony of Jamestown in America, thousands of miles away. But now that her mother has died, Amanda is left to take care of her younger brother and sister all alone back in England.
As the new head of the family, Amanda finally decides to take her brother and sister to America to find Father. The ocean crossing is long and hard, and the children don’t know whom to trust. But with her father’s little brass lion’s head to guard them, Amanda knows that somehow everything will work out.
Adults are going to travel to Egypt with “Nefertiti” by Michelle Moran (excerpt via goodreads.com):
Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rulers of Egypt for centuries. Ambitious, charismatic, and beautiful, Nefertiti is destined to marry Amunhotep, an unstable young pharaoh. It is hoped by all that her strong personality will temper the young Amunhotep’s heretical desire to forsake Egypt’s ancient gods, overthrow the priests of Amun, and introduce a new sun god for all to worship.
From the moment of her arrival in Thebes, Nefertiti is beloved by the people. Her charisma is matched only by her husband’s perceived generosity: Amunhotep showers his subjects with lofty promises. The love of the commoners will not be enough, however, if the royal couple is not able to conceive an heir, and as Nefertiti turns her attention to producing a son, she fails to see that the powerful priests, along with the military, are plotting against her husband’s rule. The only person wise enough to recognize the shift in political winds and brave enough to tell the queen is her younger sister, Mutnodjmet.
Observant and contemplative, Mutnodjmet has never shared her sisters desire for power. She yearns for a quiet existence away from family duty and the intrigues of court. Her greatest hope is to share her life with the general who has won her heart. But as Nefertiti learns of the precariousness of her reign, she declares that her sister must remain at court and marry for political gain, not love. To achieve her independence, Mutnodjmet must defy her sister, the most powerful woman in Egypt while also remaining loyal to the needs of her family.
Love, betrayal, political unrest, plague, and religious conflict Nefertiti brings ancient Egypt to life in vivid detail. Fast-paced and historically accurate, it is the dramatic story of two unforgettable women living through a remarkable period in history.
