This is my 100th post, and over the past three years of blogging I’ve reviewed just over 100 middle grade and YA time travel stories! Kind of a fun milestone. I’ve really enjoyed being part of a community of folks who want to find worthwhile books for kids and teens. At the risk of being self-indulgent, I thought some people might be interested in reading a few behind-the-scenes facts about my blog. The fifth in my series of Egyptian Time Travel Book Reviews rounds out today’s post.

Three most popular posts:

1. List: Time Travel Book Series for Kids. People love series. Is it because of the convenience of not having to search out good books for awhile once you’ve found a good series? Or the pleasure in spending time with characters and settings with which we’re familiar that gives us a cozy feeling like an old reading chair? Probably both.

2. Sent. A LOT of people are into this second book from Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Missing series. Why the second and not the first, or another book from the series? A mystery.

3. Not So Silent Night, a Dialogue-Only Christmas Story. I’m not sure why this post is relatively popular. Do a LOT of people just really dig Christmas? Examining the search terms that led people to my blog I find a lot of “Christmas dialogues”. This is apparently a Christian thing, I don’t know exactly what, as I am not a church-goer. My little story is probably not what most searchers are looking for when they land on my blog.

Three most common search engine terms that are book titles used to find my blog:

• Indian in the Cupboard
• Time Traveling Fashionista
• Infinity Ring, Book 1

Also, a whole lot of people are searching about Leonardo da Vinci and time travel. I find this interesting because stories about him were the focus of my very first blog post. But I think a lot of people think he is a time traveler for REAL. I am going to have to read more about this theory.

Today’s review:

The Egyptian Curse (Time Hunters, Book 6) by Chris Blake, (2014, 148 pages) is a fast- paced romp through ancient Egypt that may appeal to Magic Treehouse fans. This is the sixth and most recent in the Time Hunters series, with several more planned for future release.

Goodreads summary

Join Tom on an incredible treasure hunt through time and battle history’s mightiest warriors. The sixth book in a new time-travelling series – perfect for fans of Beast Quest.

When ten-year-old Tom accidentally smashes a statue in a museum he releases Isis, a young Egyptian mummy who has been imprisoned for thousands of years. To break an ancient curse, the duo must travel back in time to find six hidden amulets – battling Gladiators, Knights, Greeks, Vikings, Pirates and Egyptian Warriors!

On his sixth quest, Tom goes to Ancient Egypt. He must fight alongside King Tutankhamen in a ferocious battle. Can he protect the king and find the final amulet?

I liked:

• It is action-packed.
• Illustrated with several line drawings.
• Packs a lot of tidbits about ancient Egypt into the story.

I didn’t like:

• You have to suspend disbelief a lot that Tom’s friend Isis is a walking mummy wrapped in cloths and visible only to Tom.
• Anubis pops up at random times.
• The last several pages in the book are devoted to marketing this series. There are gaming cards featuring Egyptian gods and the characters in the series, the publisher urging readers to “collect them all”.

What I learned about Ancient Egypt

• The ankh is an ancient Egyptian symbol that means the key to life.
• Anubis was the god of the underworld. He had the head of a jackal (looks like a mean dog) and the body of a man. He was believed by Egyptians to give individuals a thumbs up or down as to whether they could travel on to the underworld when they died.
• The Hittites were people who lived to the north of Egypt who invaded during King Tut’s reign.

For links to a feast of middle grade book reviews, check out the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday links on Shannon Messenger’s blog.