Book excerpt: It is AD 79 and you are a trusted slave, looking after your master's young son in a quiet and pleasant Roman seaside town. But there's something unusual about the mountain that looms over that town, and your life is about to change forever! This title in the best-selling children’s history series, You Wouldn't Want To…, features full-colour illustrations which combine humour and accurate technical detail and a narrative approach placing readers at the centre of the history, encouraging them to become emotionally-involved with the characters and aiding their understanding of what life would have been like as a slave in Pompeii. Informative captions, a complete glossary and an index make this title an ideal introduction to the conventions of information books for young readers. It is an ideal text for Key Stage 2 shared and guided reading and helps achieve the goals of the Scottish Standard Curriculum 5-14.