Cover Image: Gaia

Gaia

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Member Reviews

This is the second Goddess graphic novel by this pair and I’m definitely going back to read the Athena one. I love the humanity they gave Gaia and the feminist take.

The info is great for late elementary and early middle grade readers. The artwork is fun and colorful. I love mythology and creation stories and have always enjoyed stories about Gaia. This is a fresh, well done telling of Gaia’s story. Adults and kids alike should definitely get into this one! I will definitely be booktalking this one to the classes I visit.

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I was hoping that this would be a really wonderful addition to our Greek Mythology homeschool unit but it just missed the mark. It didn't provide as much information as I had hoped and my children were not impressed.

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Billed as being similar to the Nathan Hale historic biographies, this new series from Amulet takes a look at the goddesses throughout history. In this, the second offering from the Greenbergs, we get the Greek goddess Gaia. We have her story, including the creation of the world and its inhabitants along with her participation in the battle between the Titans and her offspring, led by her youngest, Zeus.

In a brisk 96 pages, we get her story along with a nice glossary and bibliography so enchanted readers can find more to read.

Today, adult authors have been rewriting the classic Greek tales for modern readers, starting with Madeline Miller’s brilliant Circe. It’s become quite the cottage industry and it makes me realize that despite being the mother of Gre4ek creation, Gaia is a secondary character in her own story and it makes me wish the Greenbergs focused more on her. They pick up after she exists, not at all referencing the chaos that preceded her, and they more or less gloss over the cosmic incest that resulted in other beings of great power that arrived.

We get the various beings she and her son Uranus brought to life, leading to the war between her children and Cronus.

The writing has some snark to it which younger readers will appreciate but they are also expecting her to be the focal point of the narrative and a far more active participant and here the book fails to meet that.

Isabel Greenberg’s art is crude and off-putting and does a disservice to the great beings of myth, from the cyclops to the fifty-headed Hecatonchires (a mere four heads are shown). The review copy was in black and white while the finished work will be in color which may bring more zest to the pages.

There are plenty of interesting goddesses for such a middle grade series and I hope the prominent ones from around the world, not just the more familiar Greek and Norse, get their due in subsequent volumes.

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A graphic novel focusing on Gaia, this story has a lot of material to work with. As the oldest being in Greek mythology, aside from Chaos, Gaia created the world, and all the other gods are descended from her. I'm not bothered by the way the author retold the myths even if some stories were very different from the original Greek tales, but I felt the pacing and style was lacking. I liked the final part of the novel the best and wonder if the story had started there and then flashed back to Gaia's wars with the men in her life, there would have been more interest. While the e-ARC that I received was not fully colored, it did provide a preview of what the final graphic novel will look like. I think the artwork is interesting and I like that characters are portrayed with varying skin tones. It complements the storytelling and it reminded me of ancient Greek artwork that I've seen, which works well. Overall, a fine book, but nothing I was too excited about.

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This was a very beautiful retelling of a little known Greek myth! I found the story to be a very charming take! I also like the feminist aspects that this graphic novel touched upon! The artwork was aesthetically pleasing!

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Thank you to Netgalley and Abrams Kids for sending me a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

This was a super cute little children's graphic novel about Greek mythology! I think it did a really good job of telling the story while also being engaging and funny! There were also feminist themes throughout it that I thought were very well done and had a great representation of strong women.

I loved the lessons that this gives for children, like teaching about kindness, peace, and even taking care of the earth. It focused on showing children that it's okay to stand up for the right thing and to believe in justice.

This is a great book for any budding little Greek mythology lovers!

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This is such a great book for middle grade readers. I liked the illustrations and enjoyed the story. I am not an expert on mythology or anything in the subject area. So whether it’s considered accurate or not I wouldn’t know. Very bright and colorful.
*thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

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A silly graphic novel style book about Gaia. This is for some reason tagged as teen and while the topics are Greek goddesses, the jokes and goofs are too childish for this age

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