The Last Girls of Pompeii

August 1, 2007
Gr 6-8-In this compelling novel set in A.D. 79, 12-year-old Julia, born with a deformed arm, is the youngest sister in the Petreius family. Cornelia, her self-centered older sister, is to be married, and Julia and her slave, Sura, are caught up in the wedding preparations. Because of her arm, Julia knows she will never marry and, in fact, she discovers to her horror that she is to be placed in the slightly suspect Temple of Damia as a priestess and Sura is to be sold as a concubine to a lecherous man. As the girls plot to escape their fates, Vesuvius rumbles and eventually erupts, annihilating the city and irrevocably changing the lives of the few survivors. Lasky seamlessly weaves a great deal of history into this novel, though she does change a few minor details, which she mentions in an end note. She vividly portrays a wide swath of societyrich and poor, slaves and gladiators, priests and priestesses as well as the working people of Pompeii. Her well-rounded main characters exist in a world on the brink of disaster, a fact well known to most readers. Even so, Lasky effectively uses subtle indications of the impending eruption to increase the suspense and keep readers on the edge of their seats."Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA"

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