The children, seven-year-old Sochima, his twelve-year-old sister Aminata and her friend twelve-year-old Amaris, live in Washington D.C. and their first stop, by way of an enchanted walking stick, is ancient Mexico’s Olmec civilization around 1000 BC. The children arrive when a grand sporting event is taking place that the Olmec’s believe is a great honor to participate in. But the children come to discover that the victors, who are faster and physically skilled, will be sacrificed to the Gods of the Olmec’s, which is considered an honor. They have to find a way to retrieve what they came for without being killed.
The children’s second stop is the African empire of Mali ruled by Mansa Musa around 1327 AD. The children travel among traders in a caravan in the desert. They see up close the impressive dessert camels that the traders depend on to carry supplies and goods. They arrive at the court of Mana Musa and are involved in the politics and violent rivalry of the day that threatens Mansa Musa’s rule. They see the conflict between the Muslim Mansa Musa and his loyal followers and those who follow their ancestral beliefs.
The third stop is again in Africa, but hundreds of years before in Kemet, during the reign of the Pharaoh Pepe II around 2200 BC. Here the children travel to witness the jubilee to celebrate thirty years of Pharaoh Pepe II reign. Once there, they meet the great architect and mathematician, Imhotep, who tells them and the readers the history of the ancient Egyptian gods, the rivalry between brother Set and Ausar, and how the being Ausar became separated throughout time – very interesting.
The last stop is the Kingdom of Castile during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula around 1212 AD. The children witness the struggle between the different kingdoms of the Moor Almohads and the Christian Kingdom of Castile, each believing they had the right to rule the Peninsula. They both believe God is on their side. The author describes their different cultures, approaches to ruling and accomplishments. Again, these visits are really excellent history lessons.
Now the children, Sochima, Aminata and Amari, were children trying to find their way home. They found their strength and determination to carry on through supporting one another and working together and remembering the lessons of their parents and grandparents. I found this novel interesting and engaging and I can’t wait to see where the kids go next! Only four visits or jumps to recover four pieces were covered in this novel, which ended in a bit of a cliff hanger. That means the story is not complete and this could develop into a series of novels since it took over three hundred pages to recover four pieces and there are nine more. I look forward to reading the sequels to Children Of The Sun by Heru Ptah.