The Life and Times Series

The Life and Times series consisted of only three books. Three short little books. Sadly.

I'm always a sucker for an ancient history theme, so I was excited to see books about young people in Egypt, Greece and Rome.

Maia's book is my favorite of the three, not necessarily because of the Egyptian setting, but because it's also the best written.

Maia's book is the only one that's a really complete tale. All elements of the story are fleshed out. You know all the characters well. You understand their motivations. Mostly. You never really understand why the uncle stole grain from the temple, but he's not given a chance to explain because of how events play out.

On Google, I found this alternate cover for the book. The first picture is how I have it. I think Maia's got one of the most beautiful book covers in my entire collection. It's just a gorgeous piece of art.

Ann Turner does an excellent job of blending teaching about life in ancient Egypt and creating a story with a cast of characters you enjoy. My only nitpick is that she doesn't give Seth a fail deal, but that's typical of Westerners writing about him. They have to insert that good vs. evil concept when it was actually order vs. chaos, which has a lot more gray area.

Barry Denenberg...SIGH...wrote the other two books in the series.

He really phoned in Pandora's. You get to learn a bit about ancient Greek life for women, but the story is rushed and the characters aren't very developed, even the lead girl, Pandora. Her whole point is that she's not satisfied with life for women in ancient Greece, then she gets caught up with Socrates but only very briefly, the consequences of what she does aren't even developed, and then she runs off with a guy she's met, like, four times.

It's too short, it doesn't teach enough, and it really feels like Denenberg just does not care. It's sad because there aren't many ancient Greece books in other historical series.

Atticus got a better deal. His book is loaded with facts about daily life in ancient Rome. It's so bogged down though that it's more textbook than tale. I never really got to care about Atticus, not until the end when he sees his father, and by that point, we're rip-roaring through the plot again and it's back to feeling like Denenberg doesn't care. It does have some nice history in there, but also a fantastic glaring error when the astrologer character asks Atticus when he's born and he says 82 BC. Well, the book cover says 30 BC and you are not 52. I think it was supposed to be 42. Not sure how 82 got in there.

I recommend Maia's book, but only Maia's. Skip the other two unless you're really hard-pressed for some ancient historical fic. The only reason I'm keeping them is because sometimes I really am that hard-pressed!

Since I'm in an ancient mood, I'm foregoing my previous plan to tackle two more American series, and I'm delving into My Story, the UK's version of Dear America, which starts with books on Egypt, Pompeii, Rome and the Vikings.

DEAR AMERICA: Navajo Girl

Books covering the poor treatment of Native Americans are always hard for me to read and this one is no different. It's written in an excellent manner with Sarah Nita telling her granddaughter to write down the story of what happened to her and her family in 1863.

Sarah Nita and her little sister are off tending the sheep when soldiers raid their home and march their family away. The girls spend days fleeing with only their dog for protection to a canyon, where others are known to live. They meet a new family and remain there for awhile, but it's only a matter of time before the soldiers find them, too. Then begins the Long Walk down to Fort Sumner, where thankfully, Sarah Nita is reunited with her parents. They spend four long years there, then are allowed to return home.

The book is well-written and you can tell by her page of thanks that the author had knowledgeable help in the writing of the book.

ETA: I completely forgot to add the picture of the prototype Sarah Nita doll! She was one of the sadly unproduced set of four.

DEAR AMERICA: Love Thy Neighbor

Love Thy Neighbor was one of only two DAs released in 2003, the penultimate year of the initial run. It doesn't have the ribbon bookmark, which I sorely missed when they took it away. I'll have to try to keep track of when it disappears. Because I care about weird things like that.

Ann Turner only wrote one other book for the series: The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow. That was one of the bigger name DAs, with the Sarah Nita character even getting to the prototype stage of a Madame Alexander 18" doll.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, because Revolutionary War stuff is, like, 95% Patriot. It's interesting to see a simple family, who aren't at all bad people, stick by their beliefs in times of war. It's a reminder that not all people on the side you don't agree with are bad. And it's a reminder that even people you agree with can act like massive assholes. (Tarring and feathering, anyone?) The only thing I didn't like was that there was never any sort of clear explanation of what was up with Walter, the oldest brother. He stays behind and seemingly turns Patriot. Does he actually agree with them? Or is he just doing it to marry Prudence's ex-BFF, who he does actually end up with? He tries to get the family to return to Greenmarsh after the war, but they don't want to go back where there are bad memories, but it says nothing of any bad feelings about Walter himself. I just find it odd that no one sees him ever again and Prudence seemingly doesn't speak to her former best friend ever again, even though this girl is married to her brother. It was an odd choice. The war is over. There weren't any bad feelings between Pru and the friend or the family and Walter, so why this distance?

Anyway, if you're interested in this time period, I recommend giving this book the quick read that's all it requires. It's nice to see that different perspective a lot of people likely forget about.