Cleopatra Rules - The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen

As you have read, I am a nut for nonfiction and I had been waiting for the release of Cleopatra Rules!  The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen for some time.  Fellow blogger Vicky Alvear Shecter took bits of boring history and wove it into an exciting book about Cleopatra. I have been to Egypt more than once and consider myself an amateur historian of the pharaohs, but Vicky surprised me again and again with new information and tells her story with such humor that both kids and adults will love this book.

"Was the Last Queen of Egypt an evil, gorgeous woman, dripping with jewels? A power-hungry temptress trying to rule the world? A pharaoh with a small snake problem? How about none of the above."

And it just gets better after that.  The Cleopatra Vicky paints is a fascinating character, an early bookworm who became a brilliant ruler, raised an army at sixteen to defend her throne, and had a thing for Roman guys. Vicky writes with such whimsy as she dispels most of the rumors and lies surrounding the Queen.  She also describes how the power struggle between Octavian and Mark Antony played into Cleopatra's demise.

This is a gorgeous book, illustrated with pictures of beautiful sculptures, paintings, buildings and tomb drawings of the Queen and her Roman boys!  I enjoyed the book thoroughly and look forward to the next novel coming out of Vicky's research from Arthur Levine, Cleopatra's Moon, the story of the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony.