Character Analysis
When Toby first arrives on the scene, the girls are skeptical about adding him to the Egypt Game. After all, he's one of the jokers in their class who is constantly giving everyone ridiculous nicknames. Not what Egypt is all about. But instead of making fun of them, Toby takes the Egypt Game very seriously and learns everything that he can about it:
It was easy to tell by looking at Toby's dark eyes that something important was going on behind them. They almost gave you the feeling that you could hear things inside his head going "whirr-clank-buzz," but for once it didn't seem to have anything to do with laughter. Melanie began to get the feeling that maybe Toby wasn't just there to tease and cut up after all. (13.23)
It turns out that Toby has a real interest in ancient Egypt and respects the game that the other kids have created. He is also super creative, so he's able to add lots of new aspects to the game, including completing the hieroglyphic system and mummifying Elizabeth's dead parakeet. Which sounds gross, but it's a pretty good add to a game that's all about imagination.