Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris

Author: R. L. LaFevers

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Middle school girls and boys.

Reader's Advisory: For a historical fiction mummy book try I am the Mummy Heb-Neferet by Eve Bunting.

Summary:

Theodosia Throckmorton arrives at her parents' museum one morning to discover all the mummies from Britain gathered there. She soon realizes they are answering the call of the Staff of Osiris which is located in the basement of the museum. She can stop the staff from drawing the mummies, but she fails to stop the Serpents of Chaos from stealing the staff. Now they have power over the dead and Theodosia's research leads her to believe the staff can be used for even more sinister purposes. Can Theodosia stop the Serpents of Chaos from stealing the crown jewel of the British navy?

My favorite passage:

After I made the last notation on my paper, I reached up to stretch.

There was a faint rustle behind me. I whipped my head around. "Isis?"

But it wasn't she who had made the noise. She stood frozen in her spot, back arched, staring at the statue of Anubis.

Which yawned.

Or maybe it was more a stretching of his jaws. Either way, it wasn't something a statue ought to do.

Worried, I stepped forward for a better look, then jumped back as the jackal shook himself, like a dog awakening from a nap.

This was bad. Very bad.

I looked into the statue's eyes and he looked back at me, his hackles rising. He growled.

The growl ran along my skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake. Isis, who wasn't used to hearing dog noises in her domain, hissed loudly.

The jackal swung his head in her direction, recognized immediately that she was a cat, then leaped off the shrine toward her.

Oh no!

Isis yowled and darted into the small space between the wall and the sarcophagus, and the jackal skidded to a stop. Frustrated, he tried to squeeze in after her, but he was too big. (pg 34-35)

What I really think:

Not another British book about a conflict with the Germans! Yup, it only comes up a few times but the ultimate goal behind the chaos caused by the Serpents of Chaos is to increase tensions between Britain and Germany. Based on the fact that the main form of transportation is a horse drawn carriage I'm guessing these books are set pre World War I. The theme of blaming the fact that Britain and Germany don't get along on supernatural powers is also getting a little old. Is this to relieve guilt over the fact that Britain has to keep rehashing its conflicts with Germany? We can't let this stuff go, but we can pretend it wasn't really your fault.

My other big issue with this book is more superficial. There is nothing on the front, back or title page that says, "This is book Two!" I do not start series in the middle and in this case I honestly didn't know. I finally noticed that the review on the back is for a different book, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, which I assume is the first in the series. And the summary on the front flap does say, "Once again..." However I find these indicators to be too obscure to convey to me the information I need to know. Namely: this book is part of a series and it is not the first book.

The novel itself is entertaining enough. But not so much that I was able to overcome my annoyance over the two previously mentioned points.

Blood Red Snow White

Author: Marcus Sedgwick

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

Publication Year: 2007

Most of the readers will be: High school girls and boys.

Reader's advisory: For another book on Russia and British spies try Phoning a Dead Man by Gillian Cross.

Summary:
Arthur Ransome has fled to Russia to get away from his unhappy wife. He is a journalist reporting to the British people on Russia's war with Germany (Britain is at war with Germany, too) and later on the Russian revolution. Arthur wants to spend his time working on his books of Russian fairy tales and maybe visiting his girlfriend, Evgenia. But things are complicated.
Evgenia is Trotsky's secretary. And the British government wants to put the Tsar back in power. The Bolsheviks and the English would both love to use Arthur for their own ends. Can Arthur manouver his way through this difficult situation and create a fairy tale ending for himself and Evgenia?

My favorite passage:

Now, only a few trees ahead of him in the forest, stood two men deep in conversation. One was a Russian, the other a Jew, and they were firm friends, though they spent much of their time arguing.
They would argue about all sorts of things, but each would listen politely to what the other had to say. First, the Jew, whose name was Lev, would argue that the people of Russia should be its true masters, and while he did, the Russian, whose name was Vladimir, would stroke his small and excellent beard. Then they would swap, and Vladimir would argue that while what Lev had to say was true, they should not forget that people needed guidance from enlightened minds. And Lev would stroke his own small and excellent beard.
Then they'd each light a pipe, and have a good long smoke, while they thought what to argue about next. (pg 46)

What I really think:
I didn't look at this book very closely when I picked it up and expected it to be some kind of fairly tale adaptation. I was very surprised to discover that it was a historical fiction novel about the Russion revolution. But, I actually really enjoyed it. Sedwick masterfully weaves a fairy tale feel into the novel and has shed light on the real life of a man who went to Russia to write and was finally convinced to be a spy.