Plot Summary: High school senior Phoebe is ready for the best year of her life in Los Angeles. She just aced the summer track camp and if she keeps up her times and her grades she's guaranteed that scholarship to USC for next year. She and her two best friends have been planning it forever and Phoebe can't wait to make it happen! Then, her mom comes back from Greece with news, she's getting married and they're moving to a tiny island in Greece - right now. Phoebe's plans are thrown out of the window and when she arrives in Serfopoula it gets worse. Her new stepsister hates her, everyone at her new school is descended from Greek gods, and she can't tell anyone about it - not even her two best friends back in Los Angeles. At least she still has running - at least on a trial basis.
Critical Evaluation: Greek myth retellings and riffs on Greek myths are having their day in the young adult genre sun right now and this is a capable addition to the existing list of titles. Childs definitely stays away from too many "lessons" and "deep issues" and the result is fun from the first to the last page. A nice combination of chick lit and fantasy, this book will be popular with teen girls and I'm sure those who read this title will be hungry for more from Childs when they're done. The Greek mythology aspect of the tale is woven in well and feels organic, not just a last minute add on. A fun read for the beach.
Reader's Annotation: Phoebe's got it all figured out - USC next year with her best friends. Then her mom gets remarried and it's off to a tiny greek island - could things get any worse?
About the Author: Born outside of Minneapolis, Childs spent her youth travelling from city to city with her theater family. Once it was up to her, she continued that nomadic tradition and spent her time in college in University of Colorado - Boulder and Columbia University, where she majored in theater. She then recieved a masters in historic preservation at Columbia University.
After all of that school, she decided what she really wanted to do was write and achieved her goal with the publication of Oh.My.Gods. Since then she has written several novels for young adults and continues to roam in search of a permanent home.
Information retreived from teralynnchilds.com
Genre: Fantasy, Chick Lit
Curriculum Ties: History (loose tie)
Booktalking Ideas: Retell your own Greek myth.
Reading Level: 11+
Interest Age: 13+
Challenge Issues: N/A
Why is This Included: Representative of the Greek myth trend
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