Sue Reid

This book, based on Vesuvius’ eruption in Pompeii, is a brilliant Roman diary from an old-fashioned past. Featuring Claudia and her brothers and slaves, and her lovely dog Pollux, and lastly Briton barbarian boy Aengus, this a great historic quick-read. It holds you in a firm grasp with the characters, and with this book, you can always rely on a new, more exotic date of the Romans.
---
Claudia is a little Roman girl, who lives in Pompeii. She is constantly frightened at the great Vesuvius, the huge mountain that looms over the city. Is it just her that keeps on feeling those shaky tremors? Her father and mother take no notice, and her brothers Sextus and Marcus rely on what their old friend Gaius says, which is false. Nobody takes up any notice. Soon, Claudia gets so worried she begins to write a diary, where she can express her feelings to only the thin papyrus.
But then, half a year later, Vesuvius continues to shake. “Tremors in Pompeii are very common, Claudia, do not be so silly,” is all her father would say. Then the great mountain begins to spit little bits of solid rock, and great clouds issue from it. The little Roman girl is more and more scared.
Join her on her journey through the past as the gods decide what they shall do.… (mere)