The Secret of the Sacred Scarab ~ book review

Book Review

The Secret of the Sacred Scarab

by Fiona Ingram

ISBN: 978-0595719778

$17.95 (paperback)

$9.45 (kindle)

About the book:

The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, takes its young heroes, Justin and Adam Sinclair, on a gripping adventure through Egypt. The cousins travel down the Nile on their holiday and are soon caught up in an adventure they didn't expect to happen. They dodge danger in the form of a deadly giant cobra, outwit seriously creepy baddies, survive the desert, and finally discover the secret of the sacred scarab.

My thoughts:

This is a very enjoyable book for kids, filled with adventure, danger and mystery. Just up any kid's (age 10+) alley. The story opens with Adam (almost 13) and Justin (14) preparing for a trip to Egypt with their Aunt Isabel and Gram for a tour of all the antiquities, pyramids and ending up in the adventure of their lives. The kids end up meeting a strange little man who gives them 3 little scarabs and that leads to mystery, danger, questions and more questions... such as: What happened to Dr Kinnaird? What do the markings on the scarabs mean? And who is the mysterious Scarab King?


The nice thing about the book is that the adults (their Aunt & Gram) don't treat them like little kids other than to frown when Adam brings up treasure & adventuring. Their aunt wants a nice quiet little tour of Egypt (can you imagine?). If you have a child younger than 10 I wouldn't think they would have any trouble. It's not really scary, the writing is easy to read and other than some typos and a few missing words should be a very enjoyable read for them. You might even consider reading it together at bedtime, in the car or while your waiting in one of the ever present long lines we find everywhere!


Don't miss this....
Another thing that really expands the book from just a written book to a true learning experience and makes reading the book so much more enjoyable is the website that was created for book readers to enjoy. Much of the website is animated, the illustrations and artwork on the website is very appealing to kids of all ages.

• One of the pages on the website that really intrigued me is The Journey. The Journey is a animated map that kids can use to follow our heroes through their Journey in the story. I had some trouble figuring out this page & Fiona sent along a few tips to help you & your kids out:  (NOTE from me: I had to do it in Internet Explorer - don't use Chrome)

Fiona's note for this page: 

To get your camel moving you must click on the places on the map itself, not the sidebar. The map is interactive so it takes about ten (10) seconds to load. Once you decide to visit a city the camel will take you there but please wait while he travels on his route. Please DO NOT click the names on the sidebar. Click the city name on the actual map. The last stop – the tomb of the king – is wonderful because there is a curse they must solve, using the Mummy to help them. Once they solve the curse, they can read the first chapter of book 2, The Search for the Stone of Excalibur.

• Read a chapter from the book - click here
• Sign up for The Secret of the Sacred Scarab Facebook Fan Club
• Win a copy of The Secret of the Sacred Scarab for your school or local library
• Learn more about the author ~ Fiona Ingram & how the book became a series!
• Find some Cool Links all about Ancient Egypt!

Lastly - I hope you enjoyed the video I found on YouTube. The cover is different now and looks like the book at the top of the post with the two boys.


Learn more:

The Secret of the Sacred Scarab Website.


Fiona Ingram began writing at the age of 10 and she now writes freelance after many years of studying including a Masters in French-African literature as well as fulfilling a dream of studying theatre. Fiona has a wonderful blog full of very well written articles for parents and teachers about getting kids to read, choosing books that fit your child and writing children's literature. Check it out when you get a chance! Click here.

A copy of the book was provided to me for the purpose of a review from Fiona Ingram and Pump Up Your Book. The review (my thoughts) are my own words. I was not required to post a positive review and no money exchanged hands.