The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle
The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle
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Publisher's Hardcover ©2024--
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Holiday House
Annotation: From the author of the My Weird School books, an adventure story that spans centuries and continents. In Central Park, N... more
 
Reviews: 1
Catalog Number: #384195
Format: Publisher's Hardcover
Common Core/STEAM: STEAM STEAM
Publisher: Holiday House
Copyright Date: 2024
Edition Date: 2024 Release Date: 06/04/24
Pages: 193 pages
ISBN: 0-8234-5484-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-8234-5484-6
Dewey: Fic
LCCN: 2023024655
Dimensions: 22 cm
Language: English
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews

An unnamed boy could be watching the ball game but instead must sit in Central Park, listening to his professional storyteller mom spout facts about Cleopatra's Needle.To pique his curiosity, Mom invents diary excerpts from five fictitious children whose lives intersected with the obelisk's creation and journey. First, Zosar Zuberi, an enslaved Syrian boy in Aswan, Egypt, in 1461-1460 BCE, writes about the grueling labor required to cut the obelisk from a piece of granite. In Heliopolis in 1459 BCE, Lateef Jabari's artistic dreams are realized when the pharaoh praises his drawings of the hieroglyphs for the obelisk. Fast-forward to 1879-1880: The obelisk has moved to Alexandria, and Panya Hassan, a 14-year-old girl, details the controversy and logistics of its transfer to America: "If foreigners want treasures so badly, they should create their own." Thomas Brighton is an English boy who ran away from a troubled home; he stows away on the ship transporting the obelisk to New York. Finally, young inventor Rebecca Watson conveys the excitement and challenges of its installation in Central Park. Between the diary segments, the contemporary boy's first-person narration resumes, successfully smoothing the transitions. Readers will be drawn into the mystery of why and how an ancient Egyptian artifact stands in Central Park; they'll marvel at the feats of engineering and learn tidbits of history through the clear, detailed text and plentiful photos and illustrations.Vividly and accessibly resuscitates an ancient monument's forgotten history. (photo credits, historical note) (Fiction. 9-12)

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Kirkus Reviews
Word Count: 31,352
Reading Level: 5.1
Interest Level: 4-7
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 5.1 / points: 5.0 / quiz: 550297 / grade: Middle Grades
Guided Reading Level: T
Fountas & Pinnell: T

From the author of the My Weird School books, an adventure story that spans centuries and continents.

In Central Park, New York, stands Cleopatra’s Needle. But what do you know about? Did you know that thousands of people worked in 1461 BCE to build it? Then hundreds more moved it, and erected it in Alexandria, where it stood for 3,000 years? So how did a monolith weighing over 200 tons get moved all the way to New York City—and in the 19th Century, no less? 

In this historical fiction account by bestselling author Dan Gutman, five kids who watched the Needle at each phase of its history recount the daring story of how something that seemed to be impossible –and that nearly ended in disaster—finally succeeded against all odds. 

Including photos, diagrams, and illustrations, this book will leave history lovers and fans of problem solving astounded at all that was accomplished. And best of all, it will leave middle grade readers feeling they’ve just watched a really good movie—they’ll hardly even realize they were reading.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection


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