Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder was published in 1967 and won a Newbery Honor award. Snyder is a writer who delights and frustrates me. I have loved some of her work and found other books by her not to my liking, but I enjoyed The Velvet Room, so I keep reading her books.

Because I'm an older reader, this book took me back to my own childhood. In this story, April moves in with her grandmother and meets some new friends, Melanie and her little brother, Marshall. They invent a game in an old boarded up lot called The Egypt Game. I felt like I was taken back in time as most of our play as children was imaginative play.

I like that the characters are children of diversity. I like that they have personalities that are realistic. I loved Marshall's octopus, Security. Some of the slang will need to be explained to new readers, but overall, the book aged well.

As the story progresses, a young girl is murdered and April and her friends are unable to play outside for a while as the parents are scared. This story has just enough scare and mystery to make it interesting.


Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies. If you have a NICU graduate and would like to donate a book and have a special gift plate inside the front cover, just purchase a $5 gift card to our book registry, email me a current picture of your child if you'd like that included. Let me know at what week gestation your baby was born, what weight, and how old your child is now and a little about them. I think this could give hope to those currently in the trenches with their tiny babies when the roller coaster ride gets too intense. Thank you to all who have joined in our efforts to bring the joy of reading to the littlest of babies.

A shout out to my mom, Rolean, she brought me 200 extra large Ziplock bags for our NICU book packets. I use the two gallon bags and they can get pricey, but we are set for a while now. These bags keep the books safe while they are at the babies' bedsides.

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