The Golden Goblet by McGraw is set in ancient Egypt. Young Ranofer, the son of a deceased goldsmith, lives with his brutal half-brother Gebu. His greatest dream is to become a goldsmith like his father, but Gebu refuses to pay for him to be an apprentice. He tries to content himself with just being a simple helper at a shop, earning meager wages that he gives to his half brother. Then he realizes that he is inadvertently helping Gebu steal gold from the shop by delivering wine given to him by one of the men who washes the gold. With the help of a friend, he alerts the head goldsmith; but then his good deed is rewarded by Gebu ending his work at the shop and forcing him to become an apprentice at his own stone cutting shop. Now Ranofer's only bright spot in the day is meeting his friend from the goldsmith shop and an old man who sells papyrus for lunch every day. When Ranofer realizes that Gebu has also been grave robbing, he enlists the help of his friends to spy on Gebu and his partners to try to figure out a way to catch them and turn them into the authorities.
The book is suitable for reading aloud for ages 8 and up and as a read alone for ages 10 and up. There are a few scenes where Ranofer is beaten by Gebu that might be worth looking at beforehand for more sensitive children. I personally think those are balanced nicely by some of Ranofer's grand daydreams that made DS and I giggle. The only other caveat is that it does take several chapters to really get into the story, but I believe it's worth the effort.
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