The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keattey Snyder

Snyder, Z.K.  (1967).  The Egypt Game.  New York:  Antheneum Books.  215 pages, $6.99

A love of ancient Egypt brings Melanie Ross and April Hall together, and they become unlikely friends.  With their love and knowledge of ancient Egypt, they come up with a game, but how does that game become a reality?  Have Melanie and April taken their imaginations too far?

Melanie doesn't know if she and April will be friends.  April has just moved in with her grandma while her mom is busy with her movie career in Hollywood, but she will soon be in touch with April so that she can move back with her.  Melanie isn't sure April will fit in with the other students at her school.  She puts her hair up in a messy ponytail, wears false eyelashes, and has a feather boa, and Melanie is worried about whether or not April will fit in with the other students.  Can she get the other students to accept her?  Melanie doesn't have to worry too much about this because the other students accept April and all her quirkiness.

Through their common interest in ancient Egypt, Melanie and April come up with a game about Egypt that they play after school and during the weekends.  It has even expanded to include more people, and their ideas become more elaborate and complete with costumes, ceremonies, and a secret code.  Everyone enjoys the game, until strange things start happening with their ceremonies.  Can these modern-day Egyptians figure out how these things are happening?  Have they taken their game too far?

I liked how April's and Melanie's friendship grew.  The girls became unlikely friends through their common interest in ancient Egypt.  Melanie knew she had a good friend in April, and she wanted her classmates to feel the same way about her and accept her albeit her quirkiness.  Melanie did not want April to give up who she was, but she did what she could to help her fit in and be accepted by their classmates.  April also got accustomed to her new life, school, and friends without giving up who she really was.  Their classmates also learned to accept April, quirks and all.

When I first saw this book, I thought my sixth grade English students might be interested in it because they study ancient Egypt in their social studies class, so I thought it would be a great extension for them and a way to make connections between their English and social studies classes.  I thought the title, which refers to the game that Melanie and April invent, would catch their attention.

The Egypt Game is a Newbery Honor Book.  It is also an ALA Notable Book and won first prize at the Spring Book Festival in New York in 1967.  It also won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award and in 1973 it won the George C. Stone Recognition of Merit. 

Other books by Zilpha Keattey Snyder include William S. and the Great Escape, The Witches of Worm (also a Newbery Honor book), The Headless Cupid (a Newbery Honor Book), The Treasures of Weatherby, and The Bronze Pen.  Visit http://www.zksnyder.com/ to learn about the author and to check out some of her other titles.