The Egypt game
1967
- fiction
- juvenile fiction
- games
- murder
- imagination
- civilization
- supernatural
- mystery and detective stories
- detective and mystery stories
- romanies
The story
A group of children, entranced with the study of Egypt, play their own Egypt game, are visited by a secret oracle, become involved in a murder, and befriend the Professor before they move on to new interests, such as Gypsies.
What it’s like
Warm afternoon light through a cluttered backyard, where the prose stays close to small details: a cardboard pyramid, a sprawl of dress-up scarves, the smell of dust and sun-baked alleys in a California neighborhood. Zilpha Keatley Snyder writes in a clear, unfussy middle-grade voice, observant and wry, the narration tilting between childlike wonder and a quiet, watchful unease as the children's make-believe brushes against something real. The mood is cozy with a thread of suspense, the sort of gentle mystery that unfolds at the pace of long summer days. Violence is offstage and mostly implied, with a murder that is discussed and investigated more than it is shown, so there is tension and a brief chill but no gore. Its emotional register runs on friendship, loneliness and the particular intensity of childhood obsession, and its young characters drift from one fascination to the next as they grow. This suits a rainy Sunday, a comfort reread, or a reader who wants a bookish mystery that stays kind, for readers who love imaginative, sun-washed stories about kids inventing their own worlds.
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