Starred Review for Publishers Weekly

Logan (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Scruffy's Museum Adventure) uses a fictional boy hooked on ancient Egypt to guide readers through a real archeological dig in this gripping and entertaining picture book mystery. Young Will Hunt cannot wait to travel with his parents to Giza in 1924 Egypt. There, living "right behind the pyramids," he is eyewitness to the discovery of a secret tomb and an excavation led by Harvard archaeologist Dr. George Reisner. The author organizes the narrative into the boy's diary entries, and postcards home from Will to his friend Sam add immediacy and humor to the events ("I hope something happens—or I'm 'tombed' to eternal boredom"). Readers get a taste of both the painstaking day-to-day grunt work of an archeological dig and the thrill of uncovering the tomb's contents. But the real hook of the book is its central mystery: Who lies in the tomb? As the team progresses, they find strange twists: the usual burial practices have not been followed. Sweet (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Ten Little Lambs, reviewed above) toggles between a visual narrative, in which she develops the relationships among the various members of the dig, and a lively presentation of information, with abundant sidebars; the author here explains everything from mummification to the tools of an archeologist's trade to ancient grave robbing. The artist's own paintings, set against a sun-baked backdrop, share space with such archival materials as period photographs, object register notations and more (the book was written in cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which exhibits reproductions of the expedition's yield). Ancient Egypt aficionados will find much to ponder here. Ages 8-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

ALA Booklist (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2002)

Part fiction, part fact, this picture book for older children, developed in conjunction with Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, is based on Dr. George Reisner's archaeological documents and photographs. Unfortunately, there's so much going on that it's sometimes difficult to separate the facts from the fictional framework, which invites children to join Will Hunt (appropriately named) as he participates in Reisner's (true-life) 1924 expedition to Giza 7000 X. A mix of fonts and type sizes, including one that's very small, doesn't help. But the subject is fascinating, and as busy as things seem, kids will enjoy spending time perusing make-believe postcards, a hieroglyphic puzzle, fact sidebars, photos, and large and small paintings showing Will, Reisner, and the Qufti workers. And they'll be as delighted as Will when the tomb is opened and another mystery (which Reisner reflects on in an afterword) is revealed. More facts and theories about Giza 7000 X round out the text. A good choice for kids to use in conjunction with other books about the ancient culture and the tombs.

Horn Book (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Delaney once again combines chills with character development as Tom and others face difficult questions. Should common enemies always create allies? Can Tom kill his friend Alice's murderous mother? Meanwhile, the soul-sucking demon buggane poses a constant threat. Arrasmith's black-and-white illustrations reinforce the idea that the supernatural creatures, even Tom's temporary cohorts, are worth a shudder.

Kirkus Reviews

For armchair archaeologists, young and old, this imaginary trip to Egypt in 1924 will be golden delight. <p>For armchair archaeologists, young and old, this imaginary trip to Egypt in 1924 will be golden delight. Narrating as a first-hand account through diary entries and postcards sent to his friend back home, young Will Hunt and his family join an expedition to a site called Giza 7000X to search for a secret tomb. The family, as Will's name and pun suggests, is fictitious, while all of the information is based on actual records from a Harvard University/Boston Museum of Fine Arts expedition. Effectively designed double-page spreads utilize acrylics, watercolors, and inventive collages that incorporate stamps, postcards, and archival documents, to create a you-are-there feeling. The story puzzle approach adds an interactive element and sidebars insert details and explanations that further engage the reader. The team does uncover a tomb, one older than King Tut's. Whose tomb is it? Why are things out of place? Is there really a curse? The last two pages provide facts about Giza 7000X and a theory about the missing queen. This clever presentation of nonfiction captures the spirit of adventure and fascination with Egypt and Pyramids with suspense, humor, and zeal. Move over Ms. Frizzle, this guarantees that readers will not be "tombed to eternal boredom." <i>(Picture book/nonfiction. 7-11)</i></p>

School Library Journal (Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2002)

Gr 2-4 It is 1924 and young Will Hunt, already caught up in the fascination with ancient Egypt created by the discovery of King Tut's tomb, is going with his family to be part of the Reisner archaeological expedition in Giza. Through Will's postcards to a friend, journal entries, information-filled sidebars, and actual photographs from the expedition, readers gain insight into what such an endeavor was like. Though the team locates a burial chamber in February, 1925, it is almost a year of painstaking labor before they open the tomb and more than two years before the sarcophagus is examined. The mystery of whose tomb it was and why the mummy is missing is only partially solved and many questions remain. Sweet's lively yet uncomplicated acrylic-and-watercolor illustrations help establish Will's personality and add greatly to the story's appeal. Collages incorporating archival documents, newspaper accounts, and reproductions of Egyptian stamps and money of the early 20th century provide much visual interest. While the story is a bit contrived, it enables young readers to enter into the adventure, frustrations, and mystery of an archaeological investigation. Compared to Joanna Cole's Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt (Scholastic, 2001), the factual information in Logan's book is more concerned with the work of the scientists; only the process of mummification is covered in both books. Puzzle will be a welcome addition to any elementary school study of ancient Egypt and should prove popular with casual readers as well. Louise L. Sherman, formerly at Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ