The Ides of April (Ray, Mary, Roman Empire Sequence.)

Awful for a child to read. This is an assigned read for my 8th grader and I have to read it aloud, decipher it, and gentle the book and scenes together because it is so wordy and irrelevant to today's lifestyle. Too many names to keep straight on top of places and structures named oddly for our era. Yes the vocabulary building is there for sure, once you stop and look up each word that is presented as a descriptive and THEN go back and re-read the passage applying that new knowledge...but this makes it drag on and on and for anyone. So, definitley trying to get through Roman and Greek ancient times in language arts and history, this book is a challenge and turns off easily 95% of the class. Poor choice for this time frame for middle schoolers. *Also themes above their sense of understanding at there age so also innapropriate.

My son like this book while studying the ancient history.

Good book

Fine

I got this book for my kids because they are studying ancient history this school year. My son (11) listened to it on audio and he liked it, although I'm not sure he caught some of the plot intricacies. I read it aloud to my daughter (9) and it was very difficult for her to understand what was going on. I personally liked the story line well enough, but I do think it is a bit hard to understand sometimes. In the author's attempt to be subtle, I even found myself a little confused at times. The political aspect of the storyline was pretty much lost on me - there was not enough detail to catch it. That being said, I truly love historical fiction and I liked the book. Definitely do not recommend for anyone younger than high school, unless they are a sophisticated reader.

As other reviewers mentioned, the plot of this book is hard to follow. Many characters are introduced right away in the beginning, and, even as an adult, I found it hard to keep them all straight. Also, I found some of the story line hard to believe (spoiler alert): Hylas, the young salve, is very courageous and resourceful, but in the end he gets captured because he is walking in a circle and doesn't notice the Roman guards. That seemed completely contrived just to put him in prison. I would not give this book to a younger reader and expect him/her to follow it easily. Even as a read aloud, I think kids would have a hard time following the plot. I did like the descriptions of life in Rome, and the prison scenes were especially vivid. You do not want to be in a Roman prison. But I would choose a different book for my kids to read as historical fiction for the time period.

Since I am studying Ancient Times in school, I thought I should read this. This book is about a young slave boy, Hylas, growing up in a senator's home. When the senator is found dead in his chamber all accusations fall on the servants of the household. Will Hylas be able to prove the servants innocent? Or will all the slaves die, including Hylas' mother? Mary Ray the author of this book, has done a fantastic job of writing this. The storyline makes you feel like you are a part of the book. It was so intriguing that I could hardly put it down. I highly recommend this book for someone who loves mysteries and suspence. I also enjoyed the sequel, Beyond the Desert Gate.

Part Agatha Christie, part Eloise McGraw ... this book totally blew me away! Mary Ray is terrific, practically creating a whole new genre of books - children's historical mysteries. The plot flows beautifully from one catastrophic event to another, creating a tale of incredible skill and baffling turns.Not much has been written in the Ancient-Roman category anyway, and this book is made even more unique by its point of view - that of a slave. It exposes the so-called 'glamour' of Rome to be merely a circle of cruelty and struggle. This book is not for the very young, but discerning readers 12 & up will find this book absolutely wonderful. I can't endorse it too strongly!