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breakfastgrey's review
5.0
I was worried based off the imprint that this might be a for the paycheck book written to look splashy at book fairs. Fleming’s Area 51 book for Scholastic was solid but hardly to the level of the Romanovs work. Fortunately, this one is also magnificent. It’s compelling, well researched, and features a cast you grow to know. It’s also interspliced with myth surrounding the tombs. Loved it!
msghani's review
5.0
I was unaware of Scholastic's fairly recent imprint dedicated to narrative nonfiction and Candace Fleming's work. Both are huge oversights on my part! This was a riveting read on the search and discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. It really reads like an engrossing story of a true account! I couldn't put it down, and I don't think kids will be able to either.
librariandest's review
4.0
A bit slow to start, but once we get close to finding King Tut it gets exciting. Fleming intersperses the narrative with creepy stories about the supposed curse of Egyptian artifacts. As an adult, I didn't actually find these scary -- but if a young reader is at all open to occult Ouji Board-type stuff they might be a little freaked out. Of course, by the end of the book, it's clear that all the hype over curses was nonsense.
The thing that was super interesting to me, though not the focus of the book, was the succession of rulers/conquerers/colonizers in Egypt, from the Pharaohs to the Persians to the Greeks to the Romans to the Caliphates to the Ottomans to the French to the British and (finally!) back to the Egyptians. Fleming focuses on the tension between the British and the Egyptians over who the artifacts belong to (obviously they should belong to the Egyptians, but rich British men funded the excavation efforts expecting to make a profit).
Many photographs are included. It's so sad and telling that all of the British and French people are named and almost all of the Egyptian people are listed as "unnamed."
There are difficult questions in this book about what right modern people have to disturb ancient graves. Of course, we are curious about ancient civilizations. And some feel enough time has passed that we can excavate in the name of history and science. But Fleming asks why the Egyptologists seemed to feel no compunction about what they were doing. Maybe the legend of the curse came from the very real feeling that there ought to be consequences for disturbing burial grounds.
The thing that was super interesting to me, though not the focus of the book, was the succession of rulers/conquerers/colonizers in Egypt, from the Pharaohs to the Persians to the Greeks to the Romans to the Caliphates to the Ottomans to the French to the British and (finally!) back to the Egyptians. Fleming focuses on the tension between the British and the Egyptians over who the artifacts belong to (obviously they should belong to the Egyptians, but rich British men funded the excavation efforts expecting to make a profit).
Many photographs are included. It's so sad and telling that all of the British and French people are named and almost all of the Egyptian people are listed as "unnamed."
There are difficult questions in this book about what right modern people have to disturb ancient graves. Of course, we are curious about ancient civilizations. And some feel enough time has passed that we can excavate in the name of history and science. But Fleming asks why the Egyptologists seemed to feel no compunction about what they were doing. Maybe the legend of the curse came from the very real feeling that there ought to be consequences for disturbing burial grounds.
withlovejillian's review
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
This is a great book to read for a child interested in Egyptology. Candace Fleming snatches the reader’s attention immediately in detailing the sensational pharaoh’s curse that ensnared the world a hundred years ago. Fleming also does an excellent job reporting on the social and political issues of the time and now it affected the historic archeological dig of Tutankhamun’s tomb without getting off point. By the end of this book, the reader will have a deeper understanding of scientific undertaking the burial practices of the 3,000 year old boy king.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Death
Moderate: Colonisation and Classism
Minor: Suicide
The book does talk about victims of the “pharaoh’s curse” wherein people die of traumatic deaths or suicide. Besides Lord Carnarvon’s death, all other deaths are described briefly. In addition, Fleming goes into great detains of the 1925 anatomical exam of King Tutankhamun which would most likely be considered alarming now.crystal_reading's review
5.0
Review copy: ARC via author
Narrative nonfiction is probably my favorite and I started reading it in Junior High. Fiction had my heart, but when I read an awesome novel and wanted to learn more about a related topic, narrative nonfiction was my go-to for information. Even diehard fiction lovers can appreciate The Curse of the Mummy because it reads like a novel. Fleming has crafted an intriguing and thought-provoking story that carries a ton of information and questions about this king.
The chapters are interspersed with brief commentary about rumors surrounding the curse. These tidbits are on black pages so it is easy to distinguished the rumors from the actual facts. She uses the phrase fake news at least once so readers can draw parallels to the current day.
This is mostly a chronological narrative, but it doesn't just tell the individual actions and happenings that occurred around the site of the tomb, but some of the things that led to British people digging up the artifacts of Egypt and even taking some of them out of the country. She asks questions and provides the background for readers to consider colonialism and some of its affects. Readers will also likely be questioning if it is a good thing to disturb the tomb a teenager who would never have envisioned how his body would be taken apart, studied, and put on display for so many people.
It's a book about a particular set of circumstances, but it is a book that is meant to inspire curiosity and model questioning the processes and ways in which we move through the world.
Recommendation: This is a significant book that would be an awesome addition to any library or classroom serving middle grade readers. I believe it will work best with readers on the higher end of middle grade, but it would also be an incredible read aloud with those on the younger end. There is much to discuss and many parallels to be drawn between current events. I immediately thought of the museum scene in Black Panther and so many of the Indigenous nations here in what is currently known as the United States that are working toward repatriation of remains and artifacts. There are also Indigenous archeologists at work that it would be great to learn about or connect with around this book, like Marvin Defoe the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. You may listen to a podcast about the work he is part of at Frog Bay or read the transcript. Fleming respects her readers so she does not overly simplify the content and while it is a challenging book, it is well worth the read.
Narrative nonfiction is probably my favorite and I started reading it in Junior High. Fiction had my heart, but when I read an awesome novel and wanted to learn more about a related topic, narrative nonfiction was my go-to for information. Even diehard fiction lovers can appreciate The Curse of the Mummy because it reads like a novel. Fleming has crafted an intriguing and thought-provoking story that carries a ton of information and questions about this king.
The chapters are interspersed with brief commentary about rumors surrounding the curse. These tidbits are on black pages so it is easy to distinguished the rumors from the actual facts. She uses the phrase fake news at least once so readers can draw parallels to the current day.
This is mostly a chronological narrative, but it doesn't just tell the individual actions and happenings that occurred around the site of the tomb, but some of the things that led to British people digging up the artifacts of Egypt and even taking some of them out of the country. She asks questions and provides the background for readers to consider colonialism and some of its affects. Readers will also likely be questioning if it is a good thing to disturb the tomb a teenager who would never have envisioned how his body would be taken apart, studied, and put on display for so many people.
It's a book about a particular set of circumstances, but it is a book that is meant to inspire curiosity and model questioning the processes and ways in which we move through the world.
Recommendation: This is a significant book that would be an awesome addition to any library or classroom serving middle grade readers. I believe it will work best with readers on the higher end of middle grade, but it would also be an incredible read aloud with those on the younger end. There is much to discuss and many parallels to be drawn between current events. I immediately thought of the museum scene in Black Panther and so many of the Indigenous nations here in what is currently known as the United States that are working toward repatriation of remains and artifacts. There are also Indigenous archeologists at work that it would be great to learn about or connect with around this book, like Marvin Defoe the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. You may listen to a podcast about the work he is part of at Frog Bay or read the transcript. Fleming respects her readers so she does not overly simplify the content and while it is a challenging book, it is well worth the read.
summyrenea's review
3.0
This is a middle grades book for kids obsessed with ancient Egypt. Lots of pictures and information about archeology with a spooky twist would’ve kept sixth-grade me hooked. Thirty-nine-year-old me just wasn’t as interested. I read this for a book awards committee and will not be recommending it, though it’s a must for middle school library shelves.