Cleopatra as a teen, before it all went so wrong

Near the back of “Cleopatra Confesses,” Carolyn Meyer’s new historical novel for young readers, there are two pages of bibliography that list the books and the Internet sources the author used in her research.

Those pages don’t mention the trip that Meyer, an award-winning Albuquerque author, made down the Nile, though she does refer to it in an author’s note.

“That’s part of the research that is most enjoyable and intriguing – immersing myself in reading, then to pick up and go to some of these places,” she said.

“Just being on that river and seeing a lot of things that (Cleopatra) was seeing, some of the ruins … Cleopatra would have seen all of the temples, she would have seen the farmers in the fields and boats going back and forth.”

Meyer said she could have written the book without having taken the river trip, “but going there is a much richer experience and improves the movie set in my head,” she said.

In planning her novels, she visualizes them as sets for films.

The focus of Meyer’s novel is the intelligent and charming teenager Cleopatra. She must deal with the intense jealousy of her cruel sisters. Cleopatra is the third of pharaoh’s six children but the one their father favors to succeed him on the throne. Her sisters try to subvert that succession, which is part of the swirling palace intrigue Meyer writes about.

The author said in writing her novels for young readers she tries to uncover the universal qualities of the stories. In the case of “Cleopatra Confesses,” those qualities include the sibling rivalry, the father-daughter relationship and Cleopatra’s maturation and self-awareness as a young woman who one day would become an important ruler.

The story takes readers to a time before Cleopatra becomes queen of Egypt and before her famous involvement with the Roman general Marc Antony.

At the back of the book there are brief helpful sections on Cleopatra in history, on Egyptian gods and goddesses, the ancient Egyptian calendar and Meyer’s research methods.

Meyer is the author of more than 50 books for young readers, including “Mary, Bloody Mary,” which was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, and “Marie, Dancing,” a Book Sense pick.

Carolyn Meyer discusses, signs “Cleopatra Confesses” at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 18, at Alamosa Books, 8810 Holly NE, and 3 p.m. July 23 at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande NW.