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My Story: Girls
Pompeii: A Roman Girl's Diary, AD 78
It's August AD 78 and Claudia is at the Forum in Pompeii. It's a day of strange encounters and even odder portents. When the ground shakes Claudia is convinced it is a bad omen. What does it all mean? And why is she so disturbed by Vesuvius, the great volcano that looms over the city.
176 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
November 18, 2020
3.5 stars. A fascinating and heartwrenching recollection of the times leading up to the destruction of Pompeii and nearby towns. Even all these years later, I can’t imagine what those people experienced. The book was very well written with historical research and manners of speaking.
January 18, 2016
It started out slow, but got interesting about halfway through the book, when Claudia meets a slave English boy who has been separated from his sister and later sold as a gladiator. Claudia gets quite attached to the boy, not able to go the gladiator shows for fear of seeing him get hurt. She also has what seems to be an unreasonable fear of the mountain Vesuvius.
Only Vesuvius is actually a volcano, one that is getting ready to erupt after many years of sleep. Several earthquakes that shook Pompeii were signs of this occurrence happening, but back then, no one knew of the relation between earthquakes and volcano eruptions. The inevitable destruction that takes place is quite sad, and the human story involved allowed us a more profound look into this event in history.
I enjoyed it very much despite the slow start.
Only Vesuvius is actually a volcano, one that is getting ready to erupt after many years of sleep. Several earthquakes that shook Pompeii were signs of this occurrence happening, but back then, no one knew of the relation between earthquakes and volcano eruptions. The inevitable destruction that takes place is quite sad, and the human story involved allowed us a more profound look into this event in history.
I enjoyed it very much despite the slow start.
February 17, 2020
Imperium Rzymskie, rok 78 naszej ery. W Pompejach nastoletnia Claudia zaczyna pisać pamiętnik na kawałku pergaminu, który otrzymała od ojca. Do największej katastrofy owych czasów zastał rok...
Ojciec Claudii jest piekarzem. Jego marzeniem jest wydanie córki za mąż za syna jego bogatego kolegi po fachu, Vastusa. Ale Claudia nie lubi chłopaka. Przyjaźni się za to z jego siostrą, Aemilią, choć dość trudno nazwać to przyjaźnią. Na targu poznaje Aengusa, młodego niewolnika, rudowłosego Bryta, który zostaje kupiony przez Vastusa i zaprzyjaźnia się z nim. Bohaterów tej krótkiej powieści jest więcej: cała rodzina Claudii, jej rodzice, bracia, wujek, który mieszka na pobliskiej farmie, domowi niewolnicy. Ale także mieszkańcy Pompejów, kupcy, rzemieślnicy, żebracy, oficjele... Pojawia się też nowa przyjaciółka, Calpurnia, córka mistrza budowlanego.
W mieście zaczyna dziać się coś niedobrego, choć nikt nie potrafi określić, co dokładnie. Po wielkim trzęsieniu ziemi kilkanaście lat wcześniej, ludzie są przewrażliwieni i zabobonni. Składają ofiary bogom, aby strzegli ich przed ponowną katastrofą. Pojawiają się różne znaki, coraz częstsze drżenie ziemi, ucieczki zwierząt i ich niepokój, ale nikt nie potrafi ich odczytać. Jedynie żebrak Ancient zdaje się swiadom sytuacji i rozmawia o tym z Claudią, ale dziewczyna też chciałaby jak najszybciej zapomnieć, co usłyszała. Przebywając z Aengusem, wiele się od niego uczy. Chłopak zna zwierzęta, jak nikt inny. Opowiada jej o koniach i mówi, że czasem to jeździec powinien słuchać swojego wierzchowca. Ta rada bardzo jej się przyda, kiedy w końcu dojdzie do masowej ewakuacji ludności, a zwierzęta odmówią współpracy.
Lektura jest fajnym sposobem na poznanie codziennego życia mieszkańców starożytnego świata. Ale ilość szczegółów nie przytłacza. Wszystko jest rozłożone równo. Fakty historyczne, dziewczęce marzenia, przyjaźń, obyczaje… W sam raz dla młodzieży, czyli dla mnie ;)
Podczas lektury, przypomniałam sobie, że wieki temu już coś podobnego czytałam. Jakaś para, uszkodzony akwedukt, brak wody w mieście, ucieczka tunelami… Poszukałam i jestem pewna, że była to książka „Pompeje” Roberta Harrisa. Też warto sięgnąć :)
Ciekawostka:
Do niedawno uznawano, że erupcja nastąpiła 24 sierpnia 79 roku. Ostatnie odkrycia udowodniły, że było to trochę później, prawdopodobnie 24 października. I właśnie tej daty trzyma się autorka książki.
Powieść wydana została w serii "My story".
Ojciec Claudii jest piekarzem. Jego marzeniem jest wydanie córki za mąż za syna jego bogatego kolegi po fachu, Vastusa. Ale Claudia nie lubi chłopaka. Przyjaźni się za to z jego siostrą, Aemilią, choć dość trudno nazwać to przyjaźnią. Na targu poznaje Aengusa, młodego niewolnika, rudowłosego Bryta, który zostaje kupiony przez Vastusa i zaprzyjaźnia się z nim. Bohaterów tej krótkiej powieści jest więcej: cała rodzina Claudii, jej rodzice, bracia, wujek, który mieszka na pobliskiej farmie, domowi niewolnicy. Ale także mieszkańcy Pompejów, kupcy, rzemieślnicy, żebracy, oficjele... Pojawia się też nowa przyjaciółka, Calpurnia, córka mistrza budowlanego.
W mieście zaczyna dziać się coś niedobrego, choć nikt nie potrafi określić, co dokładnie. Po wielkim trzęsieniu ziemi kilkanaście lat wcześniej, ludzie są przewrażliwieni i zabobonni. Składają ofiary bogom, aby strzegli ich przed ponowną katastrofą. Pojawiają się różne znaki, coraz częstsze drżenie ziemi, ucieczki zwierząt i ich niepokój, ale nikt nie potrafi ich odczytać. Jedynie żebrak Ancient zdaje się swiadom sytuacji i rozmawia o tym z Claudią, ale dziewczyna też chciałaby jak najszybciej zapomnieć, co usłyszała. Przebywając z Aengusem, wiele się od niego uczy. Chłopak zna zwierzęta, jak nikt inny. Opowiada jej o koniach i mówi, że czasem to jeździec powinien słuchać swojego wierzchowca. Ta rada bardzo jej się przyda, kiedy w końcu dojdzie do masowej ewakuacji ludności, a zwierzęta odmówią współpracy.
Lektura jest fajnym sposobem na poznanie codziennego życia mieszkańców starożytnego świata. Ale ilość szczegółów nie przytłacza. Wszystko jest rozłożone równo. Fakty historyczne, dziewczęce marzenia, przyjaźń, obyczaje… W sam raz dla młodzieży, czyli dla mnie ;)
Podczas lektury, przypomniałam sobie, że wieki temu już coś podobnego czytałam. Jakaś para, uszkodzony akwedukt, brak wody w mieście, ucieczka tunelami… Poszukałam i jestem pewna, że była to książka „Pompeje” Roberta Harrisa. Też warto sięgnąć :)
Ciekawostka:
Do niedawno uznawano, że erupcja nastąpiła 24 sierpnia 79 roku. Ostatnie odkrycia udowodniły, że było to trochę później, prawdopodobnie 24 października. I właśnie tej daty trzyma się autorka książki.
Powieść wydana została w serii "My story".
February 8, 2010
My Story:Pompeii was written as a diary, by a thirteen year old Roman girl. Although I found the story of Vesuvius' eruption and the way the people of Pompeii coped with it interesting, the way the story was written seemed flat and boring. Because it was written as a diary, there was very little description of people, and the author Sue Reid seemed to be to occupied making the diary sound old fashioned than writing an interesting novel.
My Story: Pompeii started with Claudia, the protagonist, worrying about cracks in the walls. Her father told her to leave it, and that they would get a plasterer to come and fix it up. The diary continues in a fairly dull way the year preceeding the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, peppered with Claudia's worries about finding more cracks in the walls. With new friends and a kindly old beggar named Ancient, Claudia collects superstistions and ideas on why there are so many tremors.
Then her world is torn apart by the eruption of Vesuvius which very few people expected. In the wagon she and her family has to cover themselves with blankets to proctect themselves from the pumice that was falling like bullets. Every time she peeked out from under the blanket all Claudia could see was a barren, gray ashy sky.
In conclusion, I think that My Story:Pompeii was somewhat boring, and that the sotry coul;d have been written in a more riveting way, but it was a good way to learn about Pompeii, and how people didn't really believe the eruption would be that terrible. I would give it three stars, out of five.
My Story: Pompeii started with Claudia, the protagonist, worrying about cracks in the walls. Her father told her to leave it, and that they would get a plasterer to come and fix it up. The diary continues in a fairly dull way the year preceeding the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, peppered with Claudia's worries about finding more cracks in the walls. With new friends and a kindly old beggar named Ancient, Claudia collects superstistions and ideas on why there are so many tremors.
Then her world is torn apart by the eruption of Vesuvius which very few people expected. In the wagon she and her family has to cover themselves with blankets to proctect themselves from the pumice that was falling like bullets. Every time she peeked out from under the blanket all Claudia could see was a barren, gray ashy sky.
In conclusion, I think that My Story:Pompeii was somewhat boring, and that the sotry coul;d have been written in a more riveting way, but it was a good way to learn about Pompeii, and how people didn't really believe the eruption would be that terrible. I would give it three stars, out of five.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2009
Thirteen-year-old Claudia is more fortunate than many of the people living in the Roman city of Pompeii in the year AD 78. Her father is a successful businessman who owns a bakery. As a result, the family is able to own their own home and have slaves to help them out. But Claudia is often not content with her life. She would much rather write in her diary then learn about the duties of a Roman housewife from her mother.
Besides her unhappiness at learning household tasks, Claudia also has more serious worries. The city experiences several small earthquakes, and there are omens and prophecies of doom. Claudia fears something stirs in Mount Vesuvius, which looms over Pompeii. And all she can do is wait and wonder what is to become of herself, her family and friends, and the city she has lived in her entire life.
Written in the form of Claudia's diary, this book brings to life the final year before Pompeii's destruction during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Although at times the language seemed a bit modern for a diary written by a girl in ancient times, the book still does a good job at accurately describing both the everyday life of a middle class girl in ancient Rome and the events leading up the disaster. Readers who enjoyed other books in the My Story series are sure to enjoy this fascinating look into a place and time long gone but not forgotten.
Besides her unhappiness at learning household tasks, Claudia also has more serious worries. The city experiences several small earthquakes, and there are omens and prophecies of doom. Claudia fears something stirs in Mount Vesuvius, which looms over Pompeii. And all she can do is wait and wonder what is to become of herself, her family and friends, and the city she has lived in her entire life.
Written in the form of Claudia's diary, this book brings to life the final year before Pompeii's destruction during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Although at times the language seemed a bit modern for a diary written by a girl in ancient times, the book still does a good job at accurately describing both the everyday life of a middle class girl in ancient Rome and the events leading up the disaster. Readers who enjoyed other books in the My Story series are sure to enjoy this fascinating look into a place and time long gone but not forgotten.
February 23, 2024
even though this is a fast paced easy read it is stacked with interesting information about what happened when vesuvius erupted. it gives us a detailed insight to what peoples lives looked like through that time period which is sad but informative. i enjoyed it as i learned something new!
April 11, 2011
I liked this book more than the "Mill Girl" in the same series. I found this one more interesting. The one aspect that I found interesting is what it was like from the authors point of view on this girls life.
April 25, 2016
Začala jsem číst s tím, že se dozvím něco víc o Pompejích, co bude pěkně zabudované v příběhu. A pozor na to. UŽ VÍM, ŽE .. (Ten "spoiler" je naprosto neškodný..)
September 8, 2011
This is one of the many great books in the series. Claudia is a fun girl living during the time of the explosion of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii. I cannot wait to finish it!!
January 11, 2015
I loved this book soooo much!!! I am interested in history and have been reading a lot of the my story series. This is by far the best I've read!!
February 6, 2018
Sue Reid wrote the story Pompeii based on the true story of the city Pompeii as it is about to collapse, told through the eyes of a fictional baker’s daughter called Claudia who is seeing more and more omens that something bad is coming her way. And while her best friend tries to couple her up with her revolting brother, Claudia meets Aengus, a slave forced to do the work of an animal in secret. This book is a very informative and written from an interesting point of view. It also kept a certain level of suspense throughout the entire book. In comparison to other books that I have been reading, it seems to not quite be my reading level. The character isn’t actively involved in saving people, only passing on warnings and worrying about the people she wasn’t able to save. Her meetings with Aengus were also slightly more suspenseful, but it seemed to have an atmosphere of everything-will-be-all-right. The problems that happened before the end of the book and the climax are usually half solved before we even learn about them. One example of this is when Aengus first helps Claudia, and she is very hurt. This would have been suspenseful, if it were not for the fact that it was written from her bed, with her ankle propped up, thinking about her actions. However, the character is one that in that form probably didn’t exist, but could theoretically have existed. We see this in the description of her and her family and in the extra facts at the back of the book. All in all, it was a good historical fiction book, as the characters and settings seemed realistic and if you head about Pompeii for the first time, it would be very informative.
The story had a well-developed setting, though somehow it didn’t feel as if I was actually there. It felt like it might have actually happened, but a diary is usually not a place with complex descriptions of every place the writer crosses described in it, except maybe if the main character is new somewhere and they like descriptions. Claudia was the only character that we got to really know, but she seemed a little too 2D. She seemed a little too straight forward. There were not dark little corners in her soul, and to me who is used to reading books with more complex characters and imagining stories where the main point is exploring what made the character the way they are, what their demons and dark secrets are, this felt very boring. I did not like that everything that Claudia felt seemed to be able to be expressed in one sentence without and metaphors, or masquerades, only straight forward feelings. This is frustrating because it makes her feel like either she is hiding something from her diary, or she is not real. I did not like how simplistic the writing style was, as it seemed to only brush the surface of what was happening, instead of diving into the reasons, the core. It was also not very challenging, and I believe that I would not have bought this book if I knew.
The story had a well-developed setting, though somehow it didn’t feel as if I was actually there. It felt like it might have actually happened, but a diary is usually not a place with complex descriptions of every place the writer crosses described in it, except maybe if the main character is new somewhere and they like descriptions. Claudia was the only character that we got to really know, but she seemed a little too 2D. She seemed a little too straight forward. There were not dark little corners in her soul, and to me who is used to reading books with more complex characters and imagining stories where the main point is exploring what made the character the way they are, what their demons and dark secrets are, this felt very boring. I did not like that everything that Claudia felt seemed to be able to be expressed in one sentence without and metaphors, or masquerades, only straight forward feelings. This is frustrating because it makes her feel like either she is hiding something from her diary, or she is not real. I did not like how simplistic the writing style was, as it seemed to only brush the surface of what was happening, instead of diving into the reasons, the core. It was also not very challenging, and I believe that I would not have bought this book if I knew.
April 1, 2016
This book was very interesting and educational. I have studied Latin at school and learnt a lot about the events of Pompeii, so this book fascinated me greatly. I liked seeing all of the things I have learnt about in a realistic setting. For example, reading about the gladiators and the fights.
I feel like there were a lot of loose ends, but I guess that was to make it more realistic, because when they were fleeing, they wouldn't have been able to say goodbye or see a lot of the people again. But I also wanted to know if the family were alright and survived the explosion, because I feel like it was kind of ambiguous.
I did enjoy this book though, but I probably won't ever reread it, just because it isn't my favourite book and I have so many others I want to read. But, if I ever want to recap what I learnt at school, it has a handy timeline and historical facts section at the back which I could take a look at.
I feel like there were a lot of loose ends, but I guess that was to make it more realistic, because when they were fleeing, they wouldn't have been able to say goodbye or see a lot of the people again. But I also wanted to know if the family were alright and survived the explosion, because I feel like it was kind of ambiguous.
I did enjoy this book though, but I probably won't ever reread it, just because it isn't my favourite book and I have so many others I want to read. But, if I ever want to recap what I learnt at school, it has a handy timeline and historical facts section at the back which I could take a look at.
June 24, 2013
Having visited Pompeii, after many years of fascination with the history (prompted by a short story called "Dog of Pompeii" that I read in grade 7) I enjoyed the recognition of placed described in this book. I have walked on those raised stones, been in those bakeries, and the colliseum, the bath house, and all through the City of the Dead. It was a little like hearing the whispers of ghosts, reading this.
Then there was the Britton slave Aengus 'from the North' who reminded me suspiciously of a young Jamie Fraser (from Diana Gabaldon's series).
A pleasant, quick read, full of interesting historical detail.
Then there was the Britton slave Aengus 'from the North' who reminded me suspiciously of a young Jamie Fraser (from Diana Gabaldon's series).
A pleasant, quick read, full of interesting historical detail.
September 23, 2015
Another book passed to me by my daughter. Pretty good stuff, though I think we all know what is going to happen to Pompeii. Most of the characters were well drawn and the subplots were pretty good, though no really surprising twists or turns. A jolly good book aimed at a particular age group.
April 18, 2019
Packed with historical information in a fictional format, this book is excellent for children (or anyone really) who are interested in the history of Pompeii or Roman life in general. The story itself took a while to get going but did pick more towards the middle of the book. The book’s strength is its historical information as opposed to its writing, however I imagine the story is engaging enough for the intended audience age (which I guess from reading is seven-year-old and upwards) as opposed to an adult. I like how the girl was a main character as a lot of children’s history books seem to be targeted at boys; although a boy does feature as one of the other main characters and therefore this book will hopefully appeal to a wide audience. At the end of the book is a historical notes section and some photos which are a great addition to the book.
May 3, 2019
I personally found this book very boring as it was very repetitive there is a bit of romance and adventure but the book seemed very 2D with no connection with myself or the characters. I felt like this was a very slow pacing and didn't get to the good part of the story until 2/3 into the book. Overall I didn't like this and I wouldn't recommend, I also wont be looking into any of the other books in this collect.
January 3, 2021
Wonderful empathetic telling of the Vesuvius eruption with a long lead-up including insight into the lives of freedpeople, slaves, a baker's family and gladiators. The slave boy's plight moved me to set up a monthly donation to the AntiSlavery Society, proving how good the writing is!
April 13, 2021
Well written from what would be a child's point of view during this time. Language is appropriate for the era and reading level of a child/teen to understand. The back section contains the basic history of the eruption event for people to learn more about it.
July 20, 2022
I'm not a fan of using premonitions as a plot devise, and that was frequent in this story. The residents of Pompeii didn't know that Vesuvius was a volcano, so it didn't make sense for Claudia to have such vivid dreams and bad omens.
April 10, 2023
Série Můj příběh je založen na skutečné události s fiktivní postavou.Claudie a Pollux mi byla sympatická a zajímalo mě co se nakonec stalo s Claudií,její rodinou a Aengusem.Knížka byla na konci hodně dojemná a děsivá.
November 5, 2017
Is it obligatory for YA heroines to hate housework? Other than that modern cliche, it was an interesting book
June 14, 2018
Read this when i was 10, the my story series was one of the reasons i began to read.
June 26, 2019
Very fascinating.
August 8, 2019
Interesting read. May be useful when writing diary entries especially when focusing on the romans (as we are for the first 2 terms).
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December 28, 2019Nice but I wish I know what happens to Angenus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 11, 2020
I didn’t follow this book very well but I think there was a good story line. For anybody looking for a historic adventure this is the book for you!
August 29, 2020
Read this book as a kid. It's one of the first books that made me fall in love with reading
October 4, 2020
Easy read and well written. I enjoy history so the books in this series always grab my attention.
February 15, 2021
This was quite interesting.
I was interested in the girls home life and the families expeditions of her.
I was interested in the girls home life and the families expeditions of her.
November 14, 2021
Easy to read y 5/6 +.
Describes life as a Roman girl in days up to and during eruption.
Describes life as a Roman girl in days up to and during eruption.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews