As part of our homeschool curriculum to supplement the book of Exodus, my children listened spellbound to this tale. It was excellent historical fiction for youth. The purpose of historical fiction is to bring the reader into the past, to let them feel that they lived it. This author did this very well. We walked in the heat and the sand, we thirsted, we repeatedly heard the whiners and complainers, and we felt awe at the power and mercy of God.
No theme development? I guess it was as well-developed as in the book of Exodus itself.
The touch of romantic interest was well-done, with several scenarios. Goodness knows there's enough of that in so many teen books, but I thought it was handled quite realistically. It's always there, but is not the major focus of life.
Character development? No, it isn't too strong a feature of this book, but it's there. Ram obviously showed character development as he found faith in the Lord. Tirzah developed as she chose her friends, rather than the cousins she grew up with. And there was even a negative sort of character development for her mother, which, unfortunately, is too often true. I'm a little confused by the idea that the characters should have shown more maturity. Isn't that what we think every time we read the books of Exodus-Numbers? Why can't these people grow up?
The theme of racial prejudice, based on one Biblical incident, is more fully developed in this book than in the Bible.
And over-all are the themes of faith and trust in Yaweh (Jehovah) and trusting and following his prophet.
This is a great book to get a feel of this historical time period, as well as to assess our own commitment to faith, trust, and obedience toward God and his prophet.

Tirzah is a fictional young girl, an Israelite in Egyptian bondage. We follow her out of the hated Egypt, and see what the trek through the wilderness might have been to a young girl. She witnessed the plagues of Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea, feared during the creation and rebellion of the golden calf and the giving of the law, and wondered what would happen when there was nothing to drink. She gathered manna, worried over the sickness from the many quail, and speculated - like a typical teen - about who the matchmakers would think to put together. Tirzah's relations are involved in the common rebellions, and she hears their reasonings and justifications for their positions. The theme of racial prejudice is brought up concerning another young girl, an Egyptian maiden who turned to Yahweh and journeyed with the children of Israel. The final scenes of the book occur when the twelve spies have returned from Canaan. Because of the Israelites' unbelief in Yahweh, they are cursed to wander 40 years in the wilderness until those who did not believe were dead. Tirzah struggles with fear and rebellion throughout the book, but by the end she comes to understand a little of the ways of Yahweh, and learns to hope in Him.

Obviously written to appeal to teens, I thought the characters could have displayed a little more maturity. Other than that, Travis has an easy reading style. This won't be anyone's favorite book of the year, but you might check it out for a perspective on what it might have been like for the Israelite children. It's interesting to read about the places and events in Exodus in a work of fiction, and many details from the Scriptures are woven throughout it.

I read this book with my children when we were studying the Exodus, and we barely got through the book. I was very disappointed with Tirzah.



The characters and story line could have been developed well, but they really weren't. For example, an Egyptian girl who accompanies the multitude out of Egypt becomes, during the journey, a believer in God. Her experience could have been developed in the story, but it wasn't. There seemed to be no main theme to this story at all. It dabbled in the planning-to-leave-Egypt stage and followed through some of the main events of the wilderness experiences, but that wasn't really developed into the theme of the story. It dabbled in romance and match-making, but that wasn't developed into the theme of the story. It dabbled in religious belief, but that wasn't developed into the theme of the story. It was like a narration of events without any main theme ever being developed.



Also, the author took some liberties with the time frame, which would have been o.k. since this is fiction, but there were places in the book where the author seemed to forget her own sequence of events and didn't place things (like the length of a pregnancy/birth of a baby) at reasonable times in relation to her own established time frame.



I won't buy another book by this author.

I read this book with my children when we were studying the Exodus, and we barely got through the book. I was very disappointed with Tirzah.

The characters and story line could have been developed well, but they really weren't. For example, an Egyptian girl who accompanies the multitude out of Egypt becomes, during the journey, a believer in God. Her experience could have been developed in the story, but it wasn't. There seemed to be no main theme to this story at all. It dabbled in the planning-to-leave-Egypt stage and followed through some of the main events of the wilderness experiences, but that wasn't really developed into the theme of the story. It dabbled in romance and match-making, but that wasn't developed into the theme of the story. It dabbled in religious belief, but that wasn't developed into the theme of the story. It was like a narration of events without any main theme ever being developed.

Also, the author took some liberties with the time frame, which would have been o.k. since this is fiction, but there were places in the book where the author seemed to forget her own sequence of events and didn't place things (like the length of a pregnancy/birth of a baby) at reasonable times in relation to her own established time frame.

I won't buy another book by this author.