Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

(*cough robertheinleincough*) It's not a perfect book, but I'm upping my rating to five stars, dang it, just because I can, and because I so enjoyed Mara and her duel of wits with Sheftu. I had very fond memories of reading Mara years ago, and I was delighted and, frankly, relieved when my re-read lived up to my memories, which isn't always the case when I re-read favorite books from my teenage years. And then her heart starts to get involved. Either side is likely to immediately kill her if her duplicity is discovered. Set in ancient Egypt, it's the story of Mara, a bright, feisty slave girl who unexpectedly finds herself forced to act as a spy for both sides of a conflict over the throne of Egypt. Mara, Daughter of the Nile holds up amazingly well for a 60+ year old YA book.

McGraw was married to William Corbin McGraw, who died in 1999. She lived for many years in Portland, Oregon before dying in late 2000 of 'complications of cancer'. The actual writing of the books was done entirely by Eloise Lauren made story contributions significant enough for Eloise to assign her co-authorship credit. Frank Baum, writing with her daughter Lauren Lynn McGraw (Wagner) Merry Go Round in Oz (the last of the Oz books issued by Baum's publisher) and The Forbidden Fountain of Oz, and later writing The Rundelstone of Oz on her own. McGraw also contributed to the Oz series started by L. McGraw had a very strong interest in history, and among the many books she wrote for children are Greensleeves, Pharaoh, The Seventeenth Swap, and Mara, Daughter of the Nile. A Really Weird Summer (1977) won an Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America. She was awarded the Newbery Honor three times in three different decades, for her novels Moccasin Trail (1952), The Golden Goblet (1962), and The Moorchild (1997). Eloise Jarvis McGraw was an author of children's books.

Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw