Sphinx's Princess

November 1, 2009
Gr 6-9-Nefertiti is a bright, beautiful, graceful child, indulged by her prosperous and influential family. She is also willful and independent, learning to read and write at a time when women are not expected to do so. But when she is summoned to the court of her uncle, Pharaoh Amenhotep III, she is stunned to learn that her fate has been decided for hershe is to marry her cousin, the crown prince, even though she doesn't know him, and as she gets to know him, she doesn't like him. Nefertiti uses her wits and skills, and forges alliances in the shady recesses of the palace at Thebes in order to take matters into her own hands. Certain liberties appear to have been taken with the birth order of Pharaoh's children, but in most other respects, the story is carefully constructed so as to fit plausibly into Nefertiti's story, about which little is known until she marries Akhenaten. In some instances, Nefertiti also seems suspiciously modern in attitudeshe is extremely democratic in her relations with her servants and slaves, and occasionally lapses into 21st-century language. The architecture, dress, food, and court life of Egypt during the New Kingdom are described in moderate detail. Readers who enjoyed the "Royal Diaries" books (Scholastic) will welcome this novel."Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2009
Grades 8-12 Using the scant information known about the legendary Egyptian queen, Friesner imagines the early life of Nefertiti, crafting a complex teen character who is in turns intelligent and brave, impetuous and fiery, and has little concern for the prospect of marriage or trading in on her remarkable beauty. When she is forcibly engaged to her cousin, the morose crown prince, Nefertiti reluctantly leaves her happy, coddled home life to live amidst the political infighting and power struggles of the royal palace. The princess has little contact with her fianc', but she soon develops a deep friendship with the soft-spoken Prince Amenophis that fuels an intense rivalry between the brothers and puts her own life in danger. Dramatic plot twists, a powerful female subject, and engrossing details of life in ancient Egypt make for lively historical fiction, and readers will be pleased to find that the books ending leaves the door open for a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2010
This heavily fictionalized tale of the quasi-historical Nefertiti creates a possible childhood and adolescence for the Egyptian royal. Friesner's protagonist is a goodhearted independent thinker surrounded by people in high places with low motives--and she's ready to take them on. Imbuing its speculations with somewhat modern sensibilities, the text attempts to flesh out characters that history has only sketched.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)