And all she can do is wait and wonder what is to become of herself, her family and friends, and the city she has lived in her entire life. Claudia fears something stirs in Mount Vesuvius, which looms over Pompeii. The city experiences several small earthquakes, and there are omens and prophecies of doom. She would much rather write in her diary then learn about the duties of a Roman housewife from her mother.īesides her unhappiness at learning household tasks, Claudia also has more serious worries. But Claudia is often not content with her life. As a result, the family is able to own their own home and have slaves to help them out. Her father is a successful businessman who owns a bakery. Thirteen-year-old Claudia is more fortunate than many of the people living in the Roman city of Pompeii in the year AD 78. I would give it three stars, out of five. In conclusion, I think that My Story:Pompeii was somewhat boring, and that the sotry coul d have been written in a more riveting way, but it was a good way to learn about Pompeii, and how people didn't really believe the eruption would be that terrible. Every time she peeked out from under the blanket all Claudia could see was a barren, gray ashy sky. In the wagon she and her family has to cover themselves with blankets to proctect themselves from the pumice that was falling like bullets.

Then her world is torn apart by the eruption of Vesuvius which very few people expected. With new friends and a kindly old beggar named Ancient, Claudia collects superstistions and ideas on why there are so many tremors. The diary continues in a fairly dull way the year preceeding the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, peppered with Claudia's worries about finding more cracks in the walls. Her father told her to leave it, and that they would get a plasterer to come and fix it up. My Story: Pompeii started with Claudia, the protagonist, worrying about cracks in the walls. Because it was written as a diary, there was very little description of people, and the author Sue Reid seemed to be to occupied making the diary sound old fashioned than writing an interesting novel.

Although I found the story of Vesuvius' eruption and the way the people of Pompeii coped with it interesting, the way the story was written seemed flat and boring.

My Story:Pompeii was written as a diary, by a thirteen year old Roman girl.

Pompeii by Sue Reid