World – Ancient

Geraldine McCaughrean – Casting the Gods Adrift   Ancient Egypt  BC 1354

From CIP:  Tutmose, an apprentice sculptor, and his nearly-blind brother, Ibrim, an apprentice musician, are content at the court of Pharaoh Akhenaten, but their father rages against Pharaoh’s rejection of traditional Egyptian gods and plots a deadly revenge.

 

Caroline B Cooney – Goddess of Yesterday   Ancient Greece  BC 1184

This book was on our school reading list a few years ago and it was quite popular.  I am a huge fan of Caroline Cooney’s writing and have read so many of her books.  This is one of her best.  From CIP:  Taken from her home on an Aegean island as a six-year-old girl, Anaxndra calls on the protection of her goddess while she poses as two different princesses over the next six years, before ending up as a servant in the company of Helen and Paris as they make their way to Troy.

Susan Fletcher – Shadow Spinner   Ancient Persia    BC 500

This is masterful storytelling and my first true introduction to Shahrazad.  Told from the point of view of Marjan, who was crippled as a child.   If Shahrazad tells the Sultan a new story each night, her life will be spared for one more day.  Panicked when she runs out of stories, she finds Marjan, who gathers stories and feeds them to her, thus prolonging her life.  Remains one of my all-time favorites.

Julius Lester – Pharaoh’s Daughter   Ancient Egypt  BC 332

From CIP: A fictionalized account of a Biblical story in which an Egyptian princess rescues a Hebrew infant who becomes a prophet of his people while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods.