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Choose Your Own Adventure: Young Readers #24
The Mummy's Tomb
The reader determines the outcome of an adventure with an ancient Egyptian mummy in a spooky tomb.
- GenresMiddle Grade
54 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
About the author
Stephanie Spinner
56 books32 followersI was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York. I read straight through my childhood, with breaks for food, sleep, and the bathroom. I went to college in Bennington, Vermont, moved to New York City, and took a job in publishing so I could get paid for reading. I read so much bad fiction that I needed a break, so I moved to London, and from there I traveled to Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan India, Nepal, and Ceylon. I came back to America, wandered around some more -- to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize -- and on returning to New York decided to study Tibetan Buddhist painting (called thangka painting) in Boulder, Colorado.
I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months to complete, and at long last I understood that this was not the ideal way for me to make a living. Only a few hundred Americans collected thangkas, and they wanted old ones, painted by Tibetan monks. It was time to make a change.
So I took another publishing job, this time in children’s books. I found that I liked children’s books a lot, and before long, I became an editor.
Years passed. I was encouraged to write. I scoffed at the idea that I had anything to write about. I edited some wonderfully talented authors -- Virginia Hamilton, Philip Isaacson, Clyde Robert Bulla, Gloria Whelan, Robin McKinley, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix, and Chris Lynch, among others -- with great enjoyment. Writing seemed like torture by comparison.
Then, to my amazement, I found myself writing a book and having a good time -- simultaneously! The book was ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and I enjoyed writing it because my co-author was Jonathan Etra. Jon (who died of heart disease in 1990) was a close friend with a wild sense of humor, and collaborating with him changed my opinion of writing forever. After ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and ALIENS FOR LUNCH, which we also co-wrote, I began to think that writing could be interesting fun.
And now that I’ve been doing it full-time for more than ten years, I can tell you why I like it better than a job. First, I can work in my bathrobe. (To the FedEx man and the UPS man, I am "the woman in the plaid flannel robe.") Second, I can eat when I’m hungry, choose when to take phone calls, and walk my dogs any time. Third, the only meetings I have -- and they’re short -- are with the dry cleaner and the post office ladies. Fourth, I can read whatever I please. I may tell people I’m doing research when I read about horse-trekking, or hunting in ancient Greece, or 16 ways to better compost, but the truth is, I’m not doing research, I’m having a good time. Which I think is still allowed.
I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months to complete, and at long last I understood that this was not the ideal way for me to make a living. Only a few hundred Americans collected thangkas, and they wanted old ones, painted by Tibetan monks. It was time to make a change.
So I took another publishing job, this time in children’s books. I found that I liked children’s books a lot, and before long, I became an editor.
Years passed. I was encouraged to write. I scoffed at the idea that I had anything to write about. I edited some wonderfully talented authors -- Virginia Hamilton, Philip Isaacson, Clyde Robert Bulla, Gloria Whelan, Robin McKinley, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix, and Chris Lynch, among others -- with great enjoyment. Writing seemed like torture by comparison.
Then, to my amazement, I found myself writing a book and having a good time -- simultaneously! The book was ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and I enjoyed writing it because my co-author was Jonathan Etra. Jon (who died of heart disease in 1990) was a close friend with a wild sense of humor, and collaborating with him changed my opinion of writing forever. After ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and ALIENS FOR LUNCH, which we also co-wrote, I began to think that writing could be interesting fun.
And now that I’ve been doing it full-time for more than ten years, I can tell you why I like it better than a job. First, I can work in my bathrobe. (To the FedEx man and the UPS man, I am "the woman in the plaid flannel robe.") Second, I can eat when I’m hungry, choose when to take phone calls, and walk my dogs any time. Third, the only meetings I have -- and they’re short -- are with the dry cleaner and the post office ladies. Fourth, I can read whatever I please. I may tell people I’m doing research when I read about horse-trekking, or hunting in ancient Greece, or 16 ways to better compost, but the truth is, I’m not doing research, I’m having a good time. Which I think is still allowed.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 29, 2025
Numerous gamebooks have been written about Ancient Egyptian mythology, and the Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventure series wouldn't be complete without its take on the subject. You and your aunt Dottie, an archaeologist, are on your way to Cairo in search of a crystal scarab necklace supposedly buried in a Pharaoh's tomb. You're excited about hunting for treasure, but a man named Al-Fazi also wants the necklace, and you spot one of his spies on your airplane en route to Egypt. At the airport it becomes obvious he is following you, but can you escape him?
Whether you migrate to the search site immediately or stop at your hotel first, you'll be in the desert soon. If you and Aunt Dottie stay overnight beside the pyramid she wants to explore, you'll be too excited to sleep, and wander into the pyramid without her. There are awesome enchantments inside: flame that blocks corridors yet doesn't burn, and a potent curse protecting the Pharaoh's tomb. Do you dare remove the ancient king's necklace, or should you leave it and report back to Aunt Dottie? Your future depends on the respect you show the dead Pharaoh; violating the sanctity of his resting place has consequences.
Other pathways into the pyramid offer different experiences. You could go down a long, winding staircase to the Kingdom of the Dead, where a humanoid with a jackal head like Anubis's sits on a throne surrounded by walking skeletons. The Pharaoh's tomb is never far, but you could face mortal danger on the way. A room full of crocodiles awaits if you tumble into it, but you can avoid their snapping jaws and still get to the treasure. One narrative branch puts you in proximity to Al-Fazi's spy from the airplane, who charges into the pyramid to grab the necklace before you. If he falls into a trap, will you help him even though he might harm you? Locating the Pharaoh's necklace and surviving to tell about it requires savvy choices and respect for the ancient culture you're exploring. Maintain both, and you'll have a decent shot at a happy ending.
I know author Stephanie Spinner best for her 1988 book Aliens for Breakfast, which was made into a 1994 television movie starring Ben Savage and Sinbad the comedian. The fact that she contributed a Choose Your Own Adventure book is somewhat noteworthy. Not everything about The Mummy's Tomb makes sense, but traveling the dim passageways of an Egyptian pyramid is exciting, and ultimate success is a challenge. I give this book one and a half stars, but I'll be back for a reread when the mood strikes. Choose Your Own Adventure is always good for a bit of fun.
Whether you migrate to the search site immediately or stop at your hotel first, you'll be in the desert soon. If you and Aunt Dottie stay overnight beside the pyramid she wants to explore, you'll be too excited to sleep, and wander into the pyramid without her. There are awesome enchantments inside: flame that blocks corridors yet doesn't burn, and a potent curse protecting the Pharaoh's tomb. Do you dare remove the ancient king's necklace, or should you leave it and report back to Aunt Dottie? Your future depends on the respect you show the dead Pharaoh; violating the sanctity of his resting place has consequences.
Other pathways into the pyramid offer different experiences. You could go down a long, winding staircase to the Kingdom of the Dead, where a humanoid with a jackal head like Anubis's sits on a throne surrounded by walking skeletons. The Pharaoh's tomb is never far, but you could face mortal danger on the way. A room full of crocodiles awaits if you tumble into it, but you can avoid their snapping jaws and still get to the treasure. One narrative branch puts you in proximity to Al-Fazi's spy from the airplane, who charges into the pyramid to grab the necklace before you. If he falls into a trap, will you help him even though he might harm you? Locating the Pharaoh's necklace and surviving to tell about it requires savvy choices and respect for the ancient culture you're exploring. Maintain both, and you'll have a decent shot at a happy ending.
I know author Stephanie Spinner best for her 1988 book Aliens for Breakfast, which was made into a 1994 television movie starring Ben Savage and Sinbad the comedian. The fact that she contributed a Choose Your Own Adventure book is somewhat noteworthy. Not everything about The Mummy's Tomb makes sense, but traveling the dim passageways of an Egyptian pyramid is exciting, and ultimate success is a challenge. I give this book one and a half stars, but I'll be back for a reread when the mood strikes. Choose Your Own Adventure is always good for a bit of fun.
May 30, 2017
I just love these choose your own adventure books!
January 28, 2020
About average for the series. Might be stronger if the endings - both good and bad - were more interesting.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews