The Egypt Game

Like April, Melanie is an 11-year-old sixth grader. Her parents are both teachers, which gives Melanie a strong interest in reading. She acts as a foil to April, meaning that her character traits highlight April’s and how April is different. Melanie is more diplomatic, underscoring April’s rebelliousness.

She possesses greater social intelligence than April, and tries to shield April from their classmates’ ridicule by hiding April’s false eyelashes and smoothing over petty disputes that arise at school. She is equally protective of Elizabeth when the fourth-grader joins their circle. At the beginning of the novel, Melanie needs a friend and confidante just as much as April does. By the end of the story, she and April are already planning a new adventure involving gypsies.

Marshall is Melanie’s four-year-old younger brother. He accompanies the girls to the storage lot and finds himself drawn into the Egypt Game almost by default. Although he doesn’t say much, Marshall is observant. He is aware that someone is watching the game long before the others know. It is Marshall who mutely appeals to the Professor for help when April is nearly abducted, and also Marshall who is able to give a physical description of April’s assailant. He is attached to his stuffed octopus, Security, and won’t go anywhere without it. By the end of the novel, Marshall develops enough confidence in himself to leave Security at home and face the world without a prop.

The Professor is the strange, off-putting owner of A-Z Antiques, an old man who speaks very little. At the beginning of the novel, he lives in isolation and all the neighborhood children are afraid of him. Only April finds him intriguing instead of scary. It isn’t until the novel’s end that the reader learns that he has withdrawn from the world after his wife’s death. His connection to the Egypt Game and its participants helps to revive him and connect him to the community.

Caroline is April’s middle-aged paternal grandmother. At the beginning of the novel, she appears coldly disapproving of Dorothea’s behavior and only offers April a temporary home out of a sense of obligation. As the story progresses, she develops some sympathy for April’s plight and becomes fond of the girl. By the end of the novel, she has fully embraced the idea of April living with her permanently and seems to enjoy hearing April call her “Grandma” instead of Caroline.

Dorothea is April’s vain, selfish mother. She wants to become a Hollywood star and has dragged her daughter from one transient home to another, eventually parking her on the doorstep of April’s paternal grandmother. Dorothea marries her agent, Nick, but can’t seem to find room for April in her new life. At the end of the novel, she extends a last-minute invitation to April to visit for Christmas. Though she makes this slight effort, she is a flat character, meaning that she doesn’t change throughout the novel.

When the fourth-grader’s family moves into the apartment building occupied by April and Melanie, the older girls resist including her in their activities. Her striking resemblance to Queen Nefertiti gains her access to the Egypt Game. Like Melanie, Elizabeth is a soft-spoken peacemaker. She watches and learns from what the older girls do. When Toby and Ken threaten to expose the game to the grown-ups, Elizabeth is the one who comes up with the compromise of inviting them to play, too. Snyder shows how her child characters—even the minor ones—possess a keen intelligence.