Pompeii

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 14, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

Pompeii is a novel by Robert Harris about Marcus Attilius Primus, the engineer of the main aqueduct along the Mediterranean coast, which brings water to a quarter-million people. Attilius is called to Pompeii to restore the flow of water to the towns north of Pompeii, where he falls in love with Cornelia, the daughter of Ampliatus. Cornelia runs away from her father to be with Attilius at Mt. Vesuvius, but Attilius sends her back to Pompeii, where he believes she will be safer. However, Attilius was mistaken, and when he realizes his mistake, he returns to Pompeii to save her.

It took me a long time to get into the book, but as the plot thickened, I became interested in the characters. However the book has two weaknesses: The story was too complicated — I had to take notes on every chapter just to keep track of the plot. And the novel was very predictable — a kindergartner could foresee that Attilius and Cornelia would end up safe at the end while the ‘bad guys’ would all die. But would I recommend it? I don’t think so. If it weren’t a summer reading requirement, I would have abandoned it within the first 20 pages.