Customer Reviews

Songbird of the Nile: The Diary of Miriams Best Friend; Egypt, 1527-1526 BC (Promised Land Diaries)

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This is the fifth book in The Promised Land Diaries series. This series is set in Biblical times and uses a diary format to tell the stories of fictional young girls who encounter notable women of the Bible.

This book tells the story of Laila, a twelve-year-old Jewish girl living in Egypt in the years 1527 and 1526 BC. The Jewish people once had a good life in Egypt, but the current Pharaoh is a cruel man. He forces the Jewish men to labor for him, building fortress cities. Laila and her best friend Miriam are worried about their people. When Pharaoh issues a decree stating that all Jewish baby boys must be killed at birth, the girls are horrified but determined to find a way to help. Soon after, however, Miriam's mother learns she is pregnant. Miriam's father believes the child will be a baby boy who has been chosen by God to someday free their people from slavery in Egypt. But when the baby is born, will they be able to protect him?

This book is my favorite of the Promised Land Diaries I have read so far. Laila is an appealing character and her diary narration is fascinating. Through it, I learned a lot about life for the Jewish people in ancient Egypt, as well as the customs followed by the Egyptians. This was a very good retelling of the story of Miriam and her baby brother, who later became Moses, through the eyes of an ordinary young girl, and it also tells a lot about life in the ancient world. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy retellings of Bible stories or who like historical fiction set in this era.