Secrets of a Sun King: ‘THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION’ Guardian: 1

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I also really enjoyed Tulip and Oz, especially how brave and adventurous Tulip was, and their mother, whose plot shows how sexist the time was. This novel is a fast-moving historical adventure with a heartfelt tale of enduring friendships and personal memories at its core. This unit is fully aligned with the National Curriculum and uses an enquiry-approach to develop student progression. This because he is expecting of politeness and is annoyed to see Englishmen invade Egypt and straight away act as if they own the place which I perfectly understand and can sympathise for. Chiar daca povestea in sine are multe scene neverosimile, trebuie mentionat ca este prezenta si o tenta fantasy.

Students use the focus text as a basis to develop their reading, writing and SPaG skills and engage with a range of comprehension and discussion based activities. My favourite character was Tulip because she was kind to Lil and she was strong minded about what she wanted and didn't want to do. This resources will encourage and support pupils to explore unknown vocabulary, classify tiered vocabulary independently, explore the wider application of newly acquired vocabulary and enhance classroom vocabulary display which ultimately leads to improved retention. With the help of some new friends, Lilian uncovers the secrets of the jar and its connection to Tutankhamun, the famous boy king of Egypt who died while still very young, and his incredible friendships with his two best friends.

A powerpoint based around chapter 2 of Secrets of a Sun King by Emma Carroll designed for Year 6 Whole Class Reading. However, since I'm not in the target age group any more, maybe I'm just being picky expecting that the writing appeals across generations in the same way that Morpurgo and Ibbotson do!

This book is an excellent contemporary fiction for key stage two readers, and rather than being a curse, it is a gift for any teacher or parent seeking to engage their students in an investigation of ancient Egypt and a historical period where archaeological discoveries made headlines. Faber Members get access to live and online author events and receive regular e-newsletters with book previews, promotional offers, articles and quizzes. From this book review I can conclude that with use of gripping language, relatable characters, and real world situations that still create a fantastic atmosphere. The backstory set in Ancient Egypt is conveyed via transcriptions of papyri found in the jar (one of these translations is done on the hop in a few hours by Oz, a twelve-year-old!

To me, the plot started off quite slow but very quickly it became exciting and held lots of tension, making me want to read the next chapter almost every time I finished another. This book is portraying how girls in society were held back in the 1920s in England but how this girl was determined and strong minded, this is very inspiring and conveys an important message. I met her a few months before this book was published and she told me a little about her process for writing this book and how deadlines were helpful for her, which was really inspiring for me. It’s 1922, just at the point when the world was poised waiting for news about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt, when Lil finds a mysterious package on her grandad’s doorstep, just as he’s struck down with a terrible illness. I definitely found out a lot from the past like the story of Tutankhamun and Lord Carnarvon’s death.

Particularly vivid and evocative is the depiction of Egyptian rites for embalming and preparing a body. She follows her curiosity to the British Museum and then to her grandfather’s apartment, where she unearths a mysterious passage that turns out to be an Anubis-headed jar containing King Tutankhamun’s remains as well as passages written from the perspective of a young woman named Lysandra who was the Pharaoh’s close friend. By having the children meet a local boy, she also hints at problems of colonialism, and with the help of Lil, Tulip and Mrs Mendoza she makes accessible the tricky topic of feminism to young readers; also, PTSD in veterans is also an issue. All questions are designed to stimulate text discussion and address KS2 reading curriculum with some SATs style Qs.

In Emma Carrol’s latest historical adventure for Middle Grade we find Lilian and her friends in a race against time to stop the Pharaoh’s curse. Emma Carroll’s latest book was Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month for August 2018 and has been getting brilliant reviews.

The time period that it was set in (1912) was very interesting and showed what it was like in 1912 in both England and Egypt. This books follows Lil on her journey to Egypt, as she uncovers the secret life and death of a boy king, as well as the secrets and struggles of her own family. It contains an ancient Egyptian canopic jar from King Tutankhamun’s tomb, and Hanawati’s English translation of a deadly curse on whoever removes it – as the professor and Lil’s grandad did when young men.During the book there are possibly three main characters, Lilian Kaye, Pepe and Tulip, and Oz Mendoza. The story was good vocabulary including names, places, and artefacts that originally come from Egypt. Both settings are really well written and utterly immersive- I truly felt as though I was there in both of them- and while there`s a lot of descriptions the plot still zips along and every time I put the book down I always looked forward to picking it back up because the events in both timelines were so interesting.