Gideon and the Mummy Professor

Set among Mississippi river towns in 1855 and laden with period atmosphere, Karr's latest introduces 12-year-old hero who grudgingly looks after his father, the ``Mummy Professor'' who lectures on Egypt and the pharoahs. But while Gideon and his father eke out a living, they unwittingly carry a priceless gem with them--in the genuine mummy that climaxes their humbug-heavy show. Rival tomb-looter Emmanuel Wistover knows of the treasure and is pursuing them, as suspense-building cross-cuts reveal to the reader; Gideon uncovers the stone, and the professor offers it for sale in New Orleans, attracting even more interested parties. Kidnapped by Wistover, the plucky Gideon survives to strike out on his own--but only after a climactic fight in the Louisiana bayous, and a voodoo invocation that lays the spirit of the mummy to rest. As she did in Oh, Those Harper Girls! , Karr spins as fine a piece of melodrama as ever appeared on a 19th-century stage and providing plenty of unexpected twists. Why can't more historical fiction be as much fun to read? Ages 10-up. (May)