The Egypt Game has short chapters with enticing titles that encourage its young audience to continue reading, especially if they are interested in ancient Egypt or become caught up in the mystery and excitement of the Egypt Game. The black-and-white illustrations by Alton Raible that accompany the text are effective. Most of them are of the children and depict what is occurring in the chapters.

The setting is a large university town in California with a diverse population that lives along Orchard Avenue, with the children attending the same elementary school. The neighborhood is composed of shops, small homes, and old apartment houses.

Eleven-year-old April Hall’s glamorous, show business mother sends her to live with her paternal grandmother, whom April refers to as Caroline. April, who never knew her father because he was killed in the Korean War, resents having to live with Caroline and is anxiously awaiting a letter from her mother telling her to move back home. April looks upon the move to Caroline’s apartment as temporary.

Caroline works at the university library and tells April that every noon until school starts, she is to go to the Rosses for lunch. They live in the same building, the Casa Rosada apartments, and have a four-year-old son and a daughter about April’s age, who will come to get her. Melanie Ross knocks at the door and sees April with her blond hair piled on top of her head, wearing false eyelashes and her mother’s old fur stole. After lunch, Melanie shows April her library.

As April is looking at Melanie’s books, she pulls out an old, dull-looking geography book, and paper figures fall out. Melanie and April make up stories about the figures and come to enjoy each other’s company and their imagining games. The Egypt Game begins when April finds a new book at the library about Egypt and a young pharaoh.

The mysterious Professor, the owner of an antique store, looks out a window of a storeroom at the back of his shop to see the two girls enter his property by moving a loose board in a fence. They are followed by Marshall, Melanie’s four-year-old brother who is always accompanied by Security, a stuffed toy octopus; he is struggling to get through the fence. The girls find a lean-to shack containing a cracked and chipped plaster bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti, which they consider an omen. They call the shed “the Temple” and refer to the area as “Egypt.” Soon, Elizabeth Chung, a nine-year-old who moves into the Casa Rosada apartments, and Toby Alvillar and Ken Kamata, sixth-grade classmates of April and Melanie, also become players in the Egypt Game.

One night, April is taking care of Marshall when she realizes that she has left her math book in the Temple, and she and Marshall go to retrieve it. April is nervous about going out at night and moves the board the wrong way. It makes a noise, and she is attacked by a stranger who attempts to strangle her. The Professor calls for help, and Marshall identifies the attacker, who confesses to have murdered a boy and a girl from the neighborhood.

The book is set in California during the mid-1960s, specifically on Orchard Avenue in a bustling university town. The surrounding neighborhood is residential, featuring a mix of apartment buildings, modest homes, and small shops. The community is ethnically diverse, with many residents working or studying at the nearby university.

April Hall has moved in with Caroline, her paternal grandmother. April's father died in the Korean War when she was very young, and her mother, an aspiring actress and singer, is currently on tour. Caroline resides in the Casa Rosada, a Spanish-style apartment building from the 1920s. The apartments are spacious yet affordable. Caroline, who works at the university library, chose Casa Rosada to accommodate April.

Near the Casa Rosada, several small shops can be found, including the A-Z shop, which sells antiques, curios, and second-hand items. This shop and its peculiar owner play a significant role in the story. On her first day at the apartment, April walks to the 5 & 10 store to purchase fake eyelashes. On her way back, she stops by the A-Z shop, explores it, and speaks with the owner, who appears indifferent to her and her questions.

The majority of the novel's events occur in the abandoned storage yard behind the A-Z shop. April and her friend Melanie discover a loose board in the fence, which allows them to enter the yard and uncover the land of Egypt.

The structure of The Egypt Game highlights Snyder's thematic focus on the intrusion of the adult world into childhood. The book opens with a line reminiscent of a fairy tale, "Not long ago..." However, much like Hans Christian Andersen's stories, this fairy-tale beginning carries dark undertones. It quickly introduces a peculiar man who watches the young girls playing in his yard, a man who has stirred fear and distrust among his neighbors. Thus, although the novel appears to be about children and for children, the adult perspective is imposed from the outset, aligning with Snyder's theme. The first chapter is dedicated entirely to adult viewpoints and opinions, from the Professor to the neighbors. The reader's initial glimpse of childhood comes through the eyes of the enigmatic, unnamed Professor. Only after establishing this unsettling adult presence does Snyder introduce the child characters, starting with April.

April didn't expect Melanie to like her—kids rarely did—but she was determined to leave a strong impression.
Snyder also uses symbolism to delve into her theme. By naming April after the stormy spring month, she underscores April's turbulent upbringing and strong personality. The name also hints at April's hidden vulnerability, reflecting the beauty and new growth of springtime. Snyder symbolically places The Egypt Game in the storage yard of a shop owned by a Professor, aptly named the A-Z shop. Just as children begin their formal language education with the alphabet, April and her friends embark on a new journey of friendship, creativity, and survival through the game they play at the A-Z property.

Even Marshall's stuffed octopus, Security, serves a clearly symbolic role in the novel. By making Security a multi-tentacled octopus rather than a soft blanket or cuddly teddy bear, Snyder replaces the typical symbol of childhood security with a more ominous figure. This choice illustrates her idea that children in modern urban society cannot be entirely shielded from the complexities of the world around them. Even the imaginary land of Egypt, the sanctuary the children create, is not free from danger. Security is powerless to help four-year-old Marshall when he witnesses the attack on April in Egypt.

Snyder's ultimate perspective is realistic rather than dismal, and the initially intimidating Professor ultimately symbolizes genuine security. He keeps a watchful eye on the children, rescues April from the murderer, and fosters a renewed sense of community within the neighborhood. By the end of the novel, April is not entirely shielded from pain and fear, nor is she ready to live happily ever after. However, Snyder illustrates that, through her involvement with The Egypt Game, she gains the stability of a home and a circle of people who care for her. Similar to Marshall—who leaves his Security blanket in his room at the story's conclusion, indicating his readiness to face the world independently—April learns to embrace the stability provided by her new friends.

Set in a bustling university community in California, The Egypt Game showcases characters from various ethnic backgrounds. While the children seem unconcerned with age or race, the adults harbor some prejudices against those who appear "different." Snyder clearly supports the children's perspective, as they are proven right about the Professor's innocence. Ultimately, the adults learn from the children and take steps to make amends with the Professor, whom they had wrongly accused of murder.

Parents and teachers might want to emphasize to younger readers the importance of being cautious around adults, especially strangers. However, the plot's inclusion of murders also underscores this point. Snyder incorporates the murders to add a sense of realism to her portrayal of urban childhood in the 1960s and to highlight a thematic message. The narrative does not delve into the specifics of the murders, and the victims are never introduced, which reduces the emotional weight of the incident.

Commire, Anne, ed. Something about the Author. Vol. 28. Detroit: Gale Research, 1982. Provides brief biographical details about Snyder.

Gunton, Sharon R., ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 17. Detroit: Gale Research, 1981. Contains excerpts of literary criticism.