Ancient Egypt Speaks to Kids Today: #History and Mystery for the Middle Grade Classroom

The Eyes of Pharaoh by Chris Eboch: This mystery set in 1350 BCE Egypt, for ages nine and up, introduces young readers to an ancient world. The dangers and intrigues of the time echo in the politics of today, while the power of friendship will touch hearts both young and old.

Great for Classroom Use

The Eyes of Pharaoh is ideal for use in elementary and middle school classrooms or by homeschooling students studying ancient Egypt. 

Suzanne Borchers says, “I teach a gifted class of fourth and fifth graders. Using this historical fiction is a window into Ancient Egypt—its people, culture, and beliefs. My class enjoyed doing research on Egyptian gods and goddesses, and hieroglyphs. Projects extended their knowledge of this fascinating time and place. I also highly recommend it for its fast paced plot, interesting and ‘real’ characters, and excellent writing.”

Lesson Plans for CCSS

To help teachers in the classroom, extensive Lesson Plans provide material aligned to the Common Core State Standards. View them here.

f you are a teacher or librarian interested in finding out if this novel would work in your school, contact me through my website to get a free digital copy for review.

The Eyes of Pharaoh is available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book via book retailers and distributors, including Amazon.

Chris Eboch is the author of more than 60 books for young people, including The Well of Sacrifice. This historical drama set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala is used in many schools as supplemental fiction when students learn about the Maya. Kirkus Reviews said, “The novel shines not only for a faithful recreation of an unfamiliar, ancient world, but also for the introduction of a brave, likable and determined heroine.”

The Eyes of Pharaoh is sure to reach readers in the same way. Ms. Eboch’s other titles include The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy; the Haunted series, about kids who travel with a ghost hunter TV show; the fictionalized biographies Jesse Owens: Young Record Breaker and Milton Hershey: Young Chocolatier (part of Simon and Schuster’s Childhood of Famous Americans series); and many nonfiction titles.

Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or my Amazon page.

Theme: Too Many Messages?

Last week I discussed how to identify and develop your theme. That helps overcome the problem of a weak or confusing theme. But I also sometimes critique stories where the author seems to be trying to explain everything they believe about life, the universe, and... well, everything.

For younger readers and short stories, you need to keep the theme simple. The longer the story or novel, and the older the reader, the more complex you can be. At first a book may appear to be a humorous romance, but as the story unfolds, it may reveal a theme about honesty in relationships.

Your theme doesn’t have to be obvious from your first paragraph, and probably shouldn’t be. In fact, the theme may only be clear from the final twist in the story. The theme can be revealed through what the main character learns, how she changes, what she gains or loses.

As part of your revisions (or in the planning stage, if you are really organized), work on your character in order to set up your theme. Use her virtues and vices. How will her strengths help her? What weaknesses does she have to overcome? Make sure these tie into the theme. In The Well of Sacrifice, Eveningstar discovers that she can't count on other people to solve her city's problems -- she has to act. Her courage and deep-seated honesty help her, but she has to overcome the shyness and insecurity that would prefer to let others take center stage.

For longer works, think about how you can use other characters or subplots to support or expand on your theme. Maybe your main character learns to be honest in her relationships, and so develops a loving connection with her boyfriend. In contrast, her friend might keep lying in order to make a good impression, and get dumped, or wind up with a shallow, dissatisfying relationship. A subplot with the main character’s divorced parents could explore the theme in yet another way.

Although you should be able to clearly identify a single main theme, you may have additional themes. Holly Cupala said in an interview, “The theme I seem to be writing is that you can’t find yourself in other people. It’s very much there in Tell Me A Secret as well as the novel I’m working on now. Then there are the peripheral themes—looking to the past for meaning versus looking to the future for purpose, wanting to be loved for who you are, trading blame for hope.” 

Multiple themes can give a novel extra depth and power. However, don’t let your story get cluttered with too many themes, especially wildly different ones. If you try to share everything you believe about life in one story, it will just feel cluttered and confusing. Focus on one primary theme, and save the others for different works. For example, my middle grade historical mystery, The Eyes of Pharaoh, touches on immigration issues and homeland security (in ancient Egypt, but relevant today). But my main theme can be summed up by these words spoken by Pharaoh toward the end.

“Every Egyptian is my child,” he said, “and I am responsible for them all. By serving one of them, you serve me. If everyone acted with love and courage out of loyalty to their friends, I wouldn’t need soldiers or guards, tax collectors or spies.”

That brings the political commentary down to a personal level and focuses on the main theme -- that supporting your friends and family can sometimes be more important than focusing just on your own success. 

So for short fiction, keep your theme simple and focused. For longer work, you can delve more deeply into the nuances of your theme, but it's still best to have a single primary theme. You can explore different aspects of that to give your story depth, but don't try to share everything you believe in one story.