This was my banned book for the WBC challenge. I actually found it buried in a box amongst the Baby-sitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins, A Wrinkle in Time and various other books I collected in my childhood, but I'd never read this one so I decided to pick it up after I saw it listed as a banned book.

It was a cute book about a girl named April, who has come to live with her grandmother whom she hardly knows after her flighty actress mother decides to go on tour sans her 11 year old daughter. Lost and confused in a new place, dramatic and strong willed April forms a somewhat unlikely friendship with her neighbor Melanie and the two bond over a love of making up stories and reading about all things having to do with ancient Egypt.

The two girls and Melanie's younger brother discover a vacant lot behind a curios shop hidden beyond a barbed wire fence that soon becomes "Egypt" to them, a place where their imaginations can run wild and a place of mystery and sacred ceremonies. But the plot thickens when there is a murder in the neighborhood, a couple of pesky boys find out about their secret place and the oracle that they ask questions to actually begins to answer back.

I think that as we grow up, we gradually forget how to "play." My favorite thing about this book was that it made me remember how much fun it was to make up stories and new worlds with friends and act them out.

I also have to share a line that I loved that took me back to my grade school/middle school day: "Ken Kamata and Toby Alvillar were just about the most disgusting boys in the sixth grade, in a fascinating sort of way."

i liked the book because it gives alot of in formation to april s porsinallity and her friends

Pretty good.

Wow, I don't know if I've read a book that so accurately captures what it's like to be a child. The very very end fell flat for me, but the denouement does a wonderful job of becoming a metaphor for the end of childhood. A lovely and subtle coming-of-age story.

The Egypt Game is a perfectly fine book for older kids or young adults. It's fun, it moves along nicely, it has an amazingly multicultural cast that isn't belabored, and there are a few real scares in the book. On the other hand, reading it as an adult, it isn't a lot more. It's a very straightforward story, and most of the ending could have been predicted within the first thirty pages, as long as you also looked at the cover. That is not the end of the world. It merely means it's a good, fun book for kids instead of a classic that I can see adults returning to again and again. (Or is it just me who does that?)

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

A few years ago I undertook to read Zilpha Keatley Snyder's entire body of work, motivated in part by the fact that although she is an extraordinarily talented and prolific author, I had only read two of her books as a child. One of these was n  The Changelingn, a book that has relentlessly haunted me from the time I first read it. This was the other.

Snyder's fourth book - which won a Newbery Honor - follows the story of two young girls, April and Melanie, whose unlikely friendship leads to the revelation that they are both fascinated by ancient Egypt, and to the creation of "the Egypt Game." Soon they are joined by other children, and the game begins to take on a life of its own. When eerie things begin to happen, the friends find themselves wondering if it is a game at all...

I can remember racing through this novel as a child, completely ensnared by Snyder's suspenseful plot; hoping, in fact, for a more supernatural explanation than the one eventually given. I could not have articulated then just why this book (and n  The Changelingn) exercised such a powerful effect upon me. Reading as an adult however, I recognize Snyder's keen understanding of the role of the imagination in the lives of children - the games they create, the "daydreams" that give meaning to their lives. She understands the power of the child's inner life, and is never condescending towards "childish" things. I think I must also have found it refreshing to read a story with such a matter-of-fact interracial friendship, in which race itself was not the predominant concern.

Like many of Snyder's early novels, The Egypt Game is illustrated by Alton Raible.

Well, I really didn't care for this in the least! Disliked it. First, I am not a fan of YA, or of books featuring middle grade or younger. It also had a dark quality to it that I didn't care for. But here is the good news. Thanks to the Subdue the Shelf Challenge, it is off my TBR!!!! I find it actually really fascinating that I have read like 35 books off my TBR for this challenge and I have liked so few of them. But - they are gone, and hopefully replaced by better. What a lesson learned around my TBR this year.

Next up for Subdue the Shelf is the Rain Heron, thanks to Ursula, our "Train Randomizer." I dare not invoke her by saying anything but positive blessings. But maybe we could ask Ursula to start throwing Theresa a bone or two. Our Founder and Subdue the Shelf Train President has somehow ruffled her feathers. I pray that they come to a more beautiful friendship in these next few months.

I recall a teacher reading this book, but couldn't quite remember much else. I love Egypt and everything that comes with it. It's a unique culture from a different time, filled with pharaohs, pyramids, and mummies. And the children in this story are equally enthralled with Egyptology.

They go to the library to research it, role play pharaohs, gods, and servants. They even play Egyptians for Halloween. But, while they are having fun...a murderer is on the loose who kills children. The children's parents don't allow them to play outside as much, for fear of having their children killed. But, children know how to sneak out of their rooms at night. Will all of the children stay safe? Read this book to find out.

Unfortunately, this book doesn't appeal to me much after the first two chapters. It's filled with the children role-playing. And, the 20 children who went to my library's book club agreed. A book related to ancient Egyptian culture would have been more appealing if they were time-traveling to Egypt or perhaps a book about children who lived in ancient Egypt. But, a book about kids playing doesn't cut it. If the author chose to play off of the murders more, it could have a different excitement entirely. Perhaps taking that route would have been too scary?

Not everyone agrees with me though, this book was awarded the Newbery Honor around 1967.

All small people should read this book. I was obsessed with this in 4th grade, when I was sure I was going to grow up to be an archeologist. The book convinces kids that history is awesome. Which it is.

This book from my childhood still holds up, and makes me wish I had a special "Egypt" I could escape to with my friends. Reading as an adult, I was more appreciative of the racially diverse group of friends and the little insights into friendship dynamics but I couldn't help but identify more with the adults! There is a murderer on the loose, kids, please don't sneak out to an abandoned lot in the middle of the night!

I remembered reading this in 6th grade and not liking it/thinking it was very weird, but not remembering anything else about it. So when it came to my head the other day, I grabbed it from the library. Turns out I was right. It was weird/not good. :)

>>> WARNING, SPOILER ! <<< *I think




This book really has a mixture of fun, sad and scary things ! When I started reading it, which was on my summer vacations, I liked it so much, I couldn't stop reading it. I think I read it in two days. It's so fantastic, how April, Melanie, Marshal, and then Elizabeth, and the two boys Toby and Ken create a society, which grows and grows. This book felt so magic. I spent like 15 min. laughing about Marshall, one of the biggest characters, when he says "Let's kill April". It's magic how the author can combine styles and topics, and make an "epic" book, counting that the kid's society was about Ancient Egypt, which really interests me. It's great how the author makes such a mysterious character called "The Professor" by the kids, and then he presents his character as a mature adult that has a truly sad story, but he learns how to go in front by watching little kids play such a beautiful and creative game. I also loved the end, when April, my favorite character asks Melanie, who is also such a great character, if she wants to learn about something else. I just love this book, and I gave it 5 stars because it's the best book I've ever read.