Search Results for: blog crocodile on the sandbank

The Snake, The Crocodile, and The Dog – Elizabeth Peters

When we last saw Amelia Peabody at the end of “The Last Camel Died at Noon” by Elizabeth Peters, she was escaping imprisonment with her husband Emerson and their son Ramses. They had been held against their will in the fabled Lost Oasis, not quite so fabled any more, now that they had found it. They brought back with them a peculiar souvenir in the form of a beautiful thirteen-year-old girl named Nefret, who had been raised to believe that she was the High Priestess of Isis, when in actuality she was English and the daughter of the persons Amelia … Continue reading →

The El Dorado Adventure – Lloyd Alexander

As you’ll recall from the first book in the “Vesper Holly Adventures,” Vesper is a seventeen-year-old orphan who has been turned over to Brinton Garrett and his wife Mary to be their ward. Although Brinnie, as she calls him, is getting on in years, he finds himself feeling somewhat enlivened through spending time with the youthful and exuberant Vesper, and it’s a good thing, too – she keeps dragging him into the most hair-raising adventures. In “The El Dorado Adventure,” Vesper has invited Brinnie and Mary to come live on her Philadelphia estate for the purposes of helping her sort … Continue reading →

The Ape Who Guards the Balance – Elizabeth Peters

Our next installment in the Amelia Peabody series takes us to Chalfont House, the home in London where the Emerson family lives during the summer when not at their Kent estate. Amelia has caught wind of a women’s rights protest march and is determined to join in, bringing along some chains. You see, the last demonstration saw women hauled away by the constables, but as Amelia reasons, if she chains herself to a fence, they can’t very well haul her away, now, can they? Refusing Emerson’s offer to drive her to the demonstration in their new motor car, she bustles … Continue reading →

Seeing a Large Cat – Elizabeth Peters

The Emerson family is once again making its way to Egypt for a season at the archeological dig. This year, Emerson has decided to spend his time thoroughly sifting through all the debris left behind in tombs excavated by less meticulous men than himself. It’s his opinion that the other Egyptologists in the area have been so obsessed with mummies and treasure that they haven’t been paying attention to the finer details, and he intends to set it all straight. While Amelia would rather be climbing through a pyramid, herself, she admires her husband’s dedication to his work and supports … Continue reading →

Cool Author Websites

As I skim around on the Internet, gathering information on authors for the book reviews I do here on Families.com, I have the chance to see many neat websites. Here are some of my favorites. James Dashner is the author of the Jimmy Fincher series for young adults. His site features mystical looking graphics, great shots of his book covers, and mysterious music. This is an example of a site matching the theme of the book perfectly. Jan Karon, author of the “Mitford” books, has taken a series of scenes that could easily be gatherings in Mitford itself and placed … Continue reading →

The Last Camel Died at Noon – Elizabeth Peters

Our next installment in the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters takes us to the home in England where Emerson and Amelia live during the summer months. A stranger named Forthright shows up unannounced, proceeds to faint dead away on the hearth, and revives to tell a strange tale of his aunt and uncle who have disappeared in the Egyptian desert while searching for a lost civilization. He asks Emerson to undertake a search, which Emerson flatly refuses to do, until the grandfather shows up, equally unannounced, and presents Emerson with a strange object: a page from Emerson’s own notebook, … Continue reading →

The Deeds of the Disturber – Elizabeth Peters

Emerson, Amelia, and Ramses have just returned from their dig at the pyramids of Dashoor. The press had a field day with their adventures while they were gone, and they come home to find that their old “friend,” Kevin O’Connell, has been concocting all manner of sensationalized stories about them and their future mystery-solving activities. It seems that a night guard at the museum has been found dead on the floor near an ancient mummy case, a look of fear on his face, and Kevin has assured his readers that Emerson and Amelia will solve the case. Emerson strongly feels … Continue reading →

The Mummy Case — Elizabeth Peters

In “The Mummy Case,” Ramses, the only child of Emerson and Amelia, is now old enough to accompany them on an archaeological dig in Egypt. While still very young, his grasp of all things Egyptian is astounding, as is his vocabulary, and he can’t wait to get out in the sand and begin a dig of his very own. Emerson is also itching to return. The pyramids at Dashoor are calling to him, their riches just waiting to be discovered, catalogued, and turned over to the museum with Emerson’s name proudly displayed as the finder. But when they arrive in … Continue reading →