The Carnelian Game by Mary Ann Hayes is a fun novel packed with adventure and wonder.
Jake is visiting his grandparents’ beach house for the first time in years. He’s twenty-three now and has fond memories of summers at the beach house. Something, some remote memory, nags at him, but he can’t quite recall what it is.
Desmond (Des), seven, Jake’s little cousin, is also at the beach house with his parents. Des and Jake share the same bedroom and both begin to hear strange noises, a sort of pounding sound. However, they never mention this strangeness to each other, each thinking it is his own imagination. After a few days, Jake must leave to return to work.
Des discovers an old, dusty carpet under the bed where Jake slept. Behold! It’s a magic carpet that actually has a name: Mariah. Des and Mariah are soon launched on exciting, and sometimes scary, adventures.
Before Desmond and his magic carpet Mariah can play the next game, they must first finish an earlier game which ended when Desmond’s cousin, Jake, turned ten and could no longer participate. Des learns the rules from the “captain of the games” with the other carpets and riders. Their goal is to find a hidden treasure chest and the scroll it contains. But not only do they not know where in the world the treasure chest is, they need a special key to open it. Of course, the other magic carpets have the same goals, but unfortunately some of the game participants don’t play fair.
Once that game is finished, they move on to the 417th Global Magic Carpet Game. This game takes Des and Mariah to Egypt in search of a carnelian agate, a gem rich in color that symbolizes energy. It seems the precious gem was stolen from a sphinx, leaving a village destitute.
Highly imaginative, The Carnelian Game is rich with detail of the areas where the games take them, whether it’s South Africa or Egypt. The author’s research is highly impressive which makes the book not only a delightful read, but educational as well. This would be a fun book for kids of all ages, or for an adult to read to a younger child.