Horus and the Curse of Everlasting Regret

Gr 3–6—Peter's dream is to attend Camp Contraption, engineering new inventions over summer break instead of being stuck in Harbortown with his two menacing stepbrothers. Unfortunately, Peter's family can't afford the $200 fee. Tunie's dream is for her father to recover from his serious illness. Even while sneaking in at night to do her father's job as the museum's janitor and writing calligraphy for the bakery in exchange for day-old food, Tunie can't afford a doctor's visit. When the daughter of a business tycoon goes missing at an outdoor Egypt exhibit, both Peter and Tunie decide to try to find her for the $1,000 reward. A coincidental meeting at the museum's Egyptian exhibit leads both kids to Horus, a mummy who behaved so badly in life that he was cursed to an eternity of regret. Horus was awake during the kidnapping, giving the young detectives their first clue and helping more as the mystery unfolds. Voskuil does a wonderful job of moving the plot along swiftly while also creating believable and relatable characters. The short chapters will appeal to younger and reluctant readers, but fans of Egyptian mythology will be disappointed in the limited role it plays in this title. Additionally, there is not a strong sense of the 1934 setting or where Harbortown is located geographically.