I loved this book, but I don't think it would be easy to hand off to every young reader. Literary fiction for younger readers sometimes has a hard time finding its placement and I'm worried that this one will meet the same fate. I love Classical mythology and culture and I loved this very unique and richly layered story.

This compelling story is told from two points of view, a girl and a boy, who are leading very different lives in about the same period of time in Ancient Greece. The stories are anchored by pieces of ancient Greek art work that the author uses as a starting point for the stories. The boy is a slave and at the beginning of the book, his mother is a part of his life, but when she is sold, the boy is searching for an anchor to his life and after a few false starts, he finds the anchor in art, specifically art about horses. The girl is from a wealthy family and her mother is abusive. The boy's mother comes to live in their household and the girl and the boy's mother form a bond. The boy and the girl eventually come together (not in the way you'd imagine!). It's such an interesting story that's really well written. I was sorry when the book was over.

This book was so cool. So cool! A mix of poetry and prose, history and fantasy, epistolary drawings and photos and museum cards. It's a moving story, it's a fantastical journey, it's multimedia experience—it belongs in a museum.

This was a sprawling Greek epic of Homer proportions. Any children that are serious about Greek mythology and don't need all the jokes and gags present in the Percy Jackson series to enjoy a book will devour this massive tome. I loved how the narrator could change and the spanning of time through the story. A great read that I think will be rewarded heavily with rewards in January.

One of the most epic, tremendously fun and interesting books for kids that I've ever read. The mythology and world building is extraordinary. This was new territory for Schlitz and I was very impressed.