This first book in the HORACE j. EDWARDS and the TIME KEEPERS series came out last year. I’m featuring it today in anticipation of my review next week on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday of Book Two: THE SEARCH FOR THE LOST PROPHECY.

The epic time adventure begins with the required element in 75% of MG books: a scene with a bully. Horace is the new boy in Niles, Michigan and he’ll soon discover the bully is the least of his problems (although the bully returns later in the book in a fantastic twist of fate).

Horace is a typical eleven-year-old who doesn’t come to know his family’s past until a stone allows him to portal back in time. He arrives in ancient Egypt and soon befriends a young King Tut. The stone also allows him to use the portal to go back and forth from the present to the past. He gets his present world friends involved in the mystery.

There is adventure and action at every turn and the chapters fly by in a hurry. The male character will appeal to both boys and girls in the 8-13 year old age group. You have to love that cover. too.

Here’s the whole scoop from the publisher, Sleeping Bear Press:

Eleven-year-old Horace j. Edwards is an ordinary boy whose family has just moved to Niles, Michigan. But on the first day of sixth grade, mysterious things start to happen. His grandfather dies and Horace receives a strange gift–a stone scarab beetle. As he works to uncover the secrets surrounding his grandfather’s death and the beetle, Horace is transported back in time to the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna. He meets the future pharaoh, young King Tut, and together the two boys become engaged in a fight to save the city from total destruction and Egypt itself from Tut’s evil uncle Smenk. In the process, Horace discovers that he is the heir to an order of guardians, known as the Keepers of Time. The Secret of the Scarab Beetle is the first book in the middle-grade fantasy series Horace j. Edwards and the Time Keepers.

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Look for my review here next week of Book Two in the Time Keeper Series right here at the new temporary home for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday.

If you would like to join in the MMGM fun, all you have to do is blog about a middle grade book you love on a Monday (contests, author interviews and whatnot also count–but are most definitely not required) and email me the title of the book you’re featuring and a link to your blog at gpcolo (at) gmail (dot) com

 (Make sure you put MMGM or Marvelous Middle Grade Monday in the subject line so it gets sorted accurately–and please don’t forget to say what book you’re featuring) You MUST email me your link by Sunday evening (11 PM Eastern Time) in order to be included in the list of links for the coming Monday.

Thank you so much for being a part of this awesome tradition begun by Shannon Messenger and for spreading the middle grade love!

*Please note: these posts are not a reflection of my own opinions on the books featured. Each blogger is responsible for their own MMGM content and I do not pre-screen reviews ahead of time, nor do I control what books they choose. I simply assemble the list based on the links that are emailed to me.