An original, superbly executed reimagining of a story with enduring appeal.
Inspired by the saga of Cassandra and the Trojan War, this retelling takes a fresh, female-centered view of events.
All 14-year-old Cassandra wants is to perform well as the kanephoros, leading a procession to the altar in the sacred grove for the upcoming festival honoring Zeus. Well, she would also like the god Apollo to give her the ability to foretell the future. All goes well until she rejects Apollo’s advances and he attaches a curse to his gift of prophecy: She will be able to see what is to come, but no one will believe her pronouncements. Not only that, he also bestows the gift of prophecy on Helenus, her twin brother. Helenus foresees the conflict over beautiful Helen and pursues her even though he knows her kidnapping will have dire consequences for their family. Meanwhile, Cassandra is befriended by Eurus, the god of the east wind, but between her curse and the culture’s limits on women’s lives, her efforts to save her family, her people, and her city seem doomed. Enter Amazon Princess Rin, whose life is the opposite of Cassandra’s—Amazons hunt, fight, serve as mercenaries, and govern themselves. Cassandra and Rin’s friendship and their attempts to change Troy’s destiny make for a compelling read, weaving history, legend, and imagined possibilities. This welcome addition to Greek mythology–inspired stories centers multidimensional female characters often lacking in traditional tales.
An original, superbly executed reimagining of a story with enduring appeal. (cast of characters, author’s note) (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-303907-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.
In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.
Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-88083-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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