Lifelines: Cleopatra [Hardcover]

Adele Geras (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2007 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Lifelines

This innovative, fully illustrated, and factually accurate novel tells the story of the legendary Egyptian queen. At ten years old, a young girl named Nefret becomes a handmaid to Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. It is through her eyes, as a servant in Cleopatra's court, that the history of this powerful ruler unfolds. In Nefret's diary, readers will observe Cleopatra's struggle to become a pharaoh and her relentless determination to rule Egypt well. A reference chapter provides accurate historical and cultural context.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–6—The first part of this book is the fictionalized diary of Nefret, one of Cleopatra's young handmaidens. Many of the traditional stories surrounding Cleopatra and her dealings with the Romans are related, some of which are perhaps not completely true. The second part gives the historical background of ancient Egypt at the time of the queen's rule in a style reminiscent of the "Eyewitness" series (DK), while also tying the history into elements of Nefret's story. Because the whole book is relating aspects of both Egyptian and Roman history in relatively little text, it can only cover part of the story. The narrative, however, is not vague, and the second half has wonderful details about hairstyles, meals, and religion. The map of Alexandra adds great context, and the glossary and index make for easy navigation. The cover, with its three-dimensional jewels, is similar to that of the "Ologies" series (Candlewick), but the inside contains none of the extras, although it is no less exciting. The diary half of the book is illustrated with splashy full-color cartoon-style characters that have little bearing on reality (for example, Cleopatra is depicted as quite beautiful), but are humorous. The historical half has some illustrations but is mainly filled with photos of artifacts and paintings of ancient Egypt. This is a fun approach to Cleopatra's life and history, and readers will find it educational and entertaining.—Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA
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About the Author

Adele Geras has published more than ninety books, including "'Troy"', "' Happy Ever After"' (Egerton Hall trilogy), and "'Ithaka."' "'Troy"' was short-listed for the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year, the North East Book Award, and the Carnegie Medal.

M. P. Robertson's first picture book, "'Seven Ways to Catch the Moon,"' was selected by Booktrust in the U.K. as one of the best one hundred books for 2001. His later title, "'The Sandcastle"', was short-listed for the Children's Book Award and nominated for the Kate Greenaway Award.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Kingfisher; 1st edition (October 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753460254
• ISBN-13: 978-0753460252
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 10.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,616,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Jerusalem in 1944 and educated at Roedean School, Brighton and St Hilda's college, Oxford.
I've been writing books for children and young adults since 1976 and have published more than 90 titles.
I've also written four adult novels, published by Orion Books.
My website is at http://www.adelegeras.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Book, October 18, 2011

By 

Bobinion - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lifelines: Cleopatra (Hardcover)

Beautiful and sturdy book that I would recommend to anyone. May be a little too advanced for children under 10 or so.

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Handmaiden-Not Enough Cleopatra, January 16, 2011

By 

Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lifelines: Cleopatra (Hardcover)

If you have a daughter and are studying ancient history, learning about Cleopatra is a must. She is the most interesting woman of her time. In "Lifelines: Cleopatra", Adele Geras tries to tell this story by following the life of a young girl who serves as a handmaiden to Cleopatra. The story about the handmaiden is well written and interesting in its own right. However, where I think Adele Geras goes wrong is spending so much time on the handmaiden and not enough on Cleopatra. Although she died young, Cleopatra had an intense life with many interesting characters and world shaping events. Fiona MacDonald's "Cleopatra-Queen of Kings" does a much better job of telling Cleopatra's fascinating story.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Daughter Loves Cleopatra!, February 25, 2009

By 

Julie Titcomb "juliet" (Heber City, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lifelines: Cleopatra (Hardcover)

My daughter became very interested in the life of Cleopatra as we were reading a book about ancient civilizations, how their governments worked, why they worshiped particular images and gods, etc.

She thought Cleopatra was amazing because she was a very powerful woman who lived many hundreds of years ago, and so far in her schooling, very few women were spoken of as powerful leaders. So, we jumped right in and for Halloween, she dressed as a stunning Queen of the Nile, even though we realized the real Egypian Queen probably didn't actually look like Elizabeth Taylor:)

She was asking so many questions about how she became powerful, what did an Egyptian queen do in her daily life, in what kind of a house did she live, did she have a husband or children, and especially, why did she die by a snake bite. All the answers I found were very complicated and too academically worded for even a very curious and bright ten-year-old fourth grader. So...we looked on Amazon for a childrens' book about Cleopatra and found this great edition by Adele Geras.

The pictures in "Cleopatra" are fabulous! They are colorful and lovely to look at. The cover has a jeweled eye and is big and bright. It is written as diary entries in the voice of a young girl living at the time of Cleopatra and her family. We haven't been reading it straight through, and that is part of what makes it so great; book you can open to any page, or any particlarly interesting event, and easily find great facts written in a very engaging manner for young readers, (as well as their parents).

I highly recommend this book, it is worth very penny. It will hang around your bookshelf long after fourth grade. I, too, find myself curiously flipping through the pages and reading it with great interest.