A Pain in the Asp



 Cleopatra Rules! - The Amazing life of the Original Teen Queen by Vicky Shecter

Shecter, V. (2010). Cleopatra Rules! - the amazing life of the original teen queen.

      Honesdale: Boyd's Mill Press, Inc.

I was turned off by the marketing of Shecter’s Cleopatra Rules!  It seemed the author and/or the publisher was trying too hard to make this book appealing to teenage readers.  To refer to Cleopatra in the subtitle as “the original teen queen” obviously panders to intended teenage readers; and it’s not even accurate – because people lived much shorter lives in that era, kings and queens often took the throne as teenagers or younger.  Also, to suggest that our impression of Cleopatra before this book is falsely negative because our knowledge of her comes from her Roman enemies is likewise false.  From Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra to Hollywood’s movies spanning a century, the Egyptian queen has been frequently depicted in a very positive light.

The author’s writing style was likewise disappointing.  It seemed that Shecter was more interested in giving a sensationalistic and marketable depiction of Cleopatra than an objective biography.  The author used teenage vernacular to apparently try and get down to the conversational level of the adolescents she hopes will buy her book.  Personally, I think it’s more educational to write in a style that shows students how to communicate at a higher level.  It looks like  Shecter was trying to imitate the format of books like Norrie Epstein’s Friendly Shakespeare, but she failed.  Overall, this Cleopatra is a pain in the asp.         

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