Title: OH. MY. GODS.
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: May 1, 2008
Number of Pages: 224
Source of Book: Bought it awhile ago
Author’s Website: teralynnchilds.com
Goodreads Summary:
When Phoebe’s mom
returns from Greece with a new husband and plans to move to an island in
the Aegean Sea, Phoebe’s well-plotted senior year becomes ancient
history. Now, instead of enjoying a triumphant track season and planning
for college with her best friends, Phoebe is trying to keep her head
above water at the uberexclusive Academy. If it isn’t hard enough being
the new kid in school, Phoebe’s classmates are all descendents of the
Greek gods! When you’re running against teammates with superpowers,
dealing with a stepsister from Hades, and nursing a crush on a boy who
is quite literally a god, the drama takes on mythic proportions!
returns from Greece with a new husband and plans to move to an island in
the Aegean Sea, Phoebe’s well-plotted senior year becomes ancient
history. Now, instead of enjoying a triumphant track season and planning
for college with her best friends, Phoebe is trying to keep her head
above water at the uberexclusive Academy. If it isn’t hard enough being
the new kid in school, Phoebe’s classmates are all descendents of the
Greek gods! When you’re running against teammates with superpowers,
dealing with a stepsister from Hades, and nursing a crush on a boy who
is quite literally a god, the drama takes on mythic proportions!
*************************
I’ve had this book on my shelf for a few years, since it was blurbed as a Percy Jackson type book for girls who want to read more mythology related book. I finally picked it up because I’m doing a mythology book bin for 2nd quarter this year, so I need to choose titles that will be appropriate for my 7th graders and are mythology related (beyond The Lightning Thief which so many have already read). I’ve heard praise for Tera Lynn Childs’ mermaids series, so I was looking forward to reading this one. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It reads like a contemp, with a full-of-sass main character who is fun to read.
This book is a fun, frothy, light read – I would compare it mostly to those kinds of books I want to read when I don’t want to have to think too hard or get too involved, but just want an enjoyable, fun, somewhat predictable story to escape into for a few hours. This one delivers. There was some predictableness in the storyline of girl is friends with boy, boy likes girl, girl likes other more popular boy type of situation, but it was still fun to read. There was nothing too deep in the story, but there were some interesting situations – like her mom being a therapist and Phoebe being a dedicated cross country runner – which were things I haven’t seen much of before.
This book had many more mythology references than I even expected. It was funny how the “cliques” in the Academy were based on the god/goddess lineage. There were quite a few references to ancient times/events beyond just the usual gods/goddesses, and there were also references to some of the lesser gods/goddesses beyond the Olympic Twelve. I appreciated that there were references to some of the stories that go along with the Greek mythology as well. I will definitely be adding this one to my mythology book list, and predict that many of my students will enjoy reading this one. I’ll also be adding the sequel, GODDESS BOOT CAMP, to my to-be-read soon pile.
