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Lights On The Nile (2011)

by Donna Jo Napoli(Favorite Author)

3.48 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0061667935 (ISBN13: 9780061667930)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

HarperCollins

review 1: I enjoyed this book more than some of Napoli's other books but this one felt much too similar to North in terms of basic formatting. (Obviously, North was set in North America with a black boy bent on Arctic exploration and this book is set in ancient Africa with an Egyptian girl kidnapped by a man she thought her friend.) That being said, I have a fondness for Egyptian literature of this nature so that propped up my review a little bit. Napoli creates a solid, interesting narrative. However, some of her narrative choices were questionable. (They did not seem to really advance the story's narrative.) I also had to go back and reread a page or two when the "gods" were introduced as real. Napoli had just introduced several other characters and at that point it was a lot of n... moreames to try to keep straight.This is a pretty good book that I would recommend. (It doesn't get my strongest recommendation but it is a bit better than middling so I feel comfortable recommending it.)
review 2: A story set in the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, beginning quite strongly with the story of Kepi and her family, struggling since the accident that befell her father while working for the Pharaoh ferrying the granite blocks up the river for a new great pyramid. He cannot work, and decides that he will become a bread baker and experiment with new kinds of breads. He sends Kepi and her pet baby baboon out to gather herbs for the dough, but they are kidnapped because Babu is a valuable animal who will fetch a good price if sold to the temple in Ineb Hedj. Kepi is angry at the Pharaoh for not caring what happens to his workers, and she longs to talk to him and tell him what she thinks. Her kidnapping seems to present the perfect opportunity for this. Quite suddenly near the end of the book the plot twists into fantasy, with the appearance of the gods, when Kepi and her companions are given a choice to make about how they will spend the rest of their lives. Despite DJN's usual great writing, the book is a peculiar mix of historical fiction and fantasy that doesn't quite jell. Upper elementary. less

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