Curses and Smoke: a Novel of Pompeii - Softcover

3.74

1,353 ratings by Goodreads

9781407146621: Curses and Smoke: a Novel of Pompeii

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1407146629 ISBN 13: 9781407146621

Publisher: Scholastic Fiction

TAG is a medical slave, doomed to spend his life healing his master's injured gladiators. But his warrior's heart yearns to fight in the gladiator ring himself and earn enough money to win his freedom.

LUCIA is the daughter of Tag's owner, doomed by her father's greed to marry a much older Roman man. But she loves studying the natural world around her home in Pompeii, and lately she's been noticing some odd occurrences in the landscape: small lakes disappearing; a sulfurous smell in the air. . . .

When the two childhood friends reconnect, each with their own longings, they fall passionately in love. But as they plot their escape from the city, a patrician fighter reveals his own plans for them -- to Lucia's father, who imprisons Tag as punishment. Then an earthquake shakes Pompeii, in the first sign of the chaos to come. Will they be able to find each other again before the volcano destroys their whole world?

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About the Author:

Vicky Alvear Shecter is the author of CLEOPATRA'S MOON, the winner of the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, and three nonfiction books for young readers, most recently ANUBIS SPEAKS! A GUIDE TO THE AFTERLIFE BY THE EGYPTIAN GOD OF THE DEAD. A docent in the Ancient History department of the Carlos Museum of Art, she lives near Atlanta, Georgia. Please visit her website at www.vickyalvearshecter.com or follow her on Twitter at @valvearshecter.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 7 Up—Lucia, the daughter of Titurius of Pompeii, is doomed to marry a rich old man to secure money for her father's gladiatorial school. As the wedding approaches, she falls into forbidden love with Tag, the family's medical slave. The two eventually plan to run away together, but many factors interfere. Lucky for them, Mount Vesuvius throws the city into chaos by erupting, providing the young lovers a perfect chance to escape. Unfortunately, Titurius manages to follow them, with tragic results. The novel illuminates many historical details of first-century Pompeii, such as that the law allowed fathers to abandon unwanted infants outside the city gates; that an 18-hour ash eruption preceded Vesuvius's killer explosion; and that, as private property, most gladiators in Pompeii's stadium received careful medical attention. The well-researched historical setting is the strongest aspect of the novel and may keep many readers hooked. Unfortunately, the ambitious web of relationships among slaves, citizens, parents, friends, lovers, and children does not always resonate with sufficient intensity—nor does the city's final devastation. Good for die-hard historical fiction fans.—Denise Ryan, Middlesex Middle School, Darien, CT

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