Pharaoh's Daughter [Paperback]

As I was searching some Listmania lists for young adult fiction (looking a novel to assign my class), I happened to come across this one. The premise sounded great: telling a familiar Bible story through the eyes of a minor character. However, I was disappointed in some aspects of the book after actually reading it.

Julius Lester does some very good things in this novel: he stays true to the Bible AND somes as close as he can to presenting the actual historical period. When reading the author's notes at the end of the book, he explains some of the things he included (or avoided including) to make the book as historically accurate as possible. I also very much like the "God is orchestrating things; He has a plan" theme that runs through the book. It believe it would lead to some very good theological discussions. The rivalry (and reasons behind it) are revealed so that the Biblical story of Moses is put in an easily imaginable historical context. Finally, Lester's characters are highly developed and quite interesting.

Although this book is excellent for may reasons, I have decided against assigning to my students (5th) in the Lutheran school I teach in. One reason is that one of the main characters (a twelve-year-old) talks about her breasts too much for the boys I teach to feel comfortalbe with. Futhermore, being a male teacher, I don't think either the girls or I would feel comfortable reading such passages aloud in class. I know that as girls become women, the size of their breasts are important to them, but it seems as if the majority of the young adult novels I read need to have the main character harp on her breast size and her menstrul cycle. I'm sure Judy Blume is happy to see that so many current young adult novel authors have been influenced by her, but in following in Judy Blume's footsteps, authors tend to create a lot of books that teacher and his class can't read. I digress, however. Lester puts the breast-talk in a historical context; Almah discusses her breasts in such a way as to illustrate her maturity, her love for the sun, and her beauty. She is also naked (sometimes dancing naked) at some points in the book. If there were some passing references to her sexuality (or replace sexuality with beauty), the book would have been fine, but as it is, I would not assign it to my junior high students.

The Bible does not name the sister of Moses who watched him while he hid in a basket on the Nile, but the Hebrew word used describes a woman of marriageable age. Could Moses have had another sister? Julius Lester uses the viewpoint of this imagined--but very possible--sister to tell the story of the Habiru (Hebrew) and Khemetian (Egyptian) peoples during the time of Mosis' (Moses') upbringing in the court of Ramesses II.

The author uses ancient Egyptian and Hebrew words and names whenever possible to remove images of The Ten Commandments and Prince of Egypt from readers' minds. He asks us to consider that the story we've been told was from the view-point of the Hebrews, embittered by years of slavery; he asks us to consider the Egyptians anew.

The author attempts to give an historically accurate view of the New Kingdom of Egypt. In order to keep the story as authentic as possible, he has Mosis speak in an unusual way, attempting to create his "heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue" description from the Old Testament.

Stories are even more subtle than non-fiction and evoke even more emotion and can therefore be even more persuasive, especially to young minds that have not moved into the final stages of development, so this book should only be read by children who have entered the third and final stage of mental development (as discussed in _The Well-Trained Mind_.)

To Christian parents, this is a Biblical story told from a non-Biblical perspective. The point-of-view for most of the book is Mosis' sister, Almah, who embraces the gods and goddesses of Egypt, even becoming a priestess of Hathor. There is nudity in religious circumstances and lust is discussed briefly. Many characters argue in favor of many gods and the strongest believer in Ya (the Biblical God) is portrayed in a negative light.

Despite all the possible drawbacks, this book shines fresh light on the struggles Moses and his family must have gone through in his early life. It is also a great discussion starter. Have your mature thirteen or fourteen year old child read this along with a study on ancient Egypt, then discuss family relationships, different viewpoints (is one always right and one always wrong), can a god meet a woman's needs (or does she need a goddess to understand her), etc.

The author includes an author's note and a glossary in the back of the book. Read the glossary BEFORE you read the book; save the author's note for afterwards. In the author's note, Lester explains his purpose, some of the efforts he went through to be accurate historically, and the textual reasons he made some of the decisions he made. Very informative.

Summary: Mosis' part in the dialog may make this book seem poorly developed or for a younger age group at first--until you realize that Mosis is supposed to speak poorly and it is intentional. Instead, this is a great story told in an engaging way from a refreshing viewpoint which I recommend, but only for mature thirteen year olds and older. A sort of _The Red Tent_ for teenagers, without all the sexuality. This book touched me and I became misty-eyed towards the end.

When I first started to read this book I thought it would be more historical. It did give you some information but it also had a story plot to it which made the story so much more interesting to me. Almah, the main person, was a well developed person who loves adventure. Almah has a baby brother who eventually is called Mosis. Much of the ook was deciding wheter or not he wanted to stay with the Haribu, his people, or the people in the palace his adapative family. In the end Mosis makes his decision. I think that the book was well written and very informative. I think that most kids, teachers, and parents would like this book. I liked a lot on a scale 1-10 10 being the highest a would give it a 9.5. Pharaoh's Daughter was extemerly interesting I think everyone should read.