Historical Fiction Set In Ancient Sumer - Secret Of The Scribe By Jennifer Johnson Garrity
By Kim Kautzer
I always loved to supplement history studies with historical fiction. I found picture books and novels aplenty while studying Greece and Rome, the
Renaissance and Reformation, or the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. But ancient Sumer? The closest I could get was the story of Gilgamesh, but it is an epic, not a
novel, and not nearly so appealing to eight- to twelve-year-old girls!
Actually, both girls and boys alike will delight in Secret of the Scribe, the first
historical novel about ancient Sumer I've seen. Author Jennifer Johnson Garrity transports the reader back 5000 years to the time of Abraham and the bustling city of
Ur. Told in first person, it's the story of a young girl, Tabni, who grows up infort as a slave to a Sumerian queen-until a great calamity forces her to flee the palace
by night and make her way into the world alone.
Don't we love The Boxcar Children and My Side of the Mountain, where the courageous
protagonists must live resourcefully on their own? This universally appealing theme appears in Secret of the Scribe as well. As the young scribe Tabni weaves
her narrative, the reader journeys with her by boat down the broad Euphrates River to the Sumerian trade center of Ur, where we experience both the grandeur of
the gleaming ziggurat and the stench of narrow back alleys.
Tabni's tale draws us in. We feel her grief and hunger as she finds herself homeless in a new
world. We discover her pluck and courage as she forms a daring plan while living alone in secret. And we taste Tabni's fear of vengeance from the many gods she
tries desperately to appease.
In true "historical novel" fashion, Secret of the Scribe teaches the reader about life and customs in Ur-how people in this
ancient civilization lived, ate, dressed, worked, and worshipped. Italicized words sprinkled throughout the book point to a glossary of unfamiliar terms, making it easy
for the teacher or homeschooling parent to incorporate vocabulary into their Sumerian studies.
Secret of the Scribe would also make a great
springboard into arts and crafts. The book introduces students to Sumerian trades such as weaving, metalwork, jewelry-making, and pottery, opening up all sorts of
possibilities for accompanying projects. Trained as a scribe, Tabni writes on clay tablets, suggesting a project that dovetails art with learning about Sumerian
cuneiform.
I'm so pleased to have
discovered Secret of the Scribe, published by brimwoodpress BrimWood Press. This little novel will
meet a tremendous need for teachers and parents who hope to use historical fiction to broaden their children's understanding of ancient Sumer.
Kim Kautzer
is the co-author of the award-winning WriteShop: An Incremental Writing Program, honored as one of Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. A
veteran homeschooler, Kim loves to help parents feel more confident about teaching writing. She and her husband live in Southern California, where they enjoy their
empty nest and their six amazing grandchildren.
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