ACPL's Books for Teens

 

Retellings: Mythology

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Retellings: Mythology

Entries marked with a ♥ are staff favorites

Catran, Ken Voyage with Jason

Through the narrative of a lowly apprentice, Catran retells the mythical voyages of Jason, his search for the Golden Fleece, and his encounters with gods and monsters.

Cook, Jennifer Ariadne: The Maiden and the Minotaur

Based on the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur, the tale of a hero who enters a labyrinth and kills a terrible monster with the help of a beautiful princess, Ariadne is written from the princess's point of view.

Coville, Bruce Thor's Wedding Day, by Thialfi, the Goat Boy

Thialfi, the Norse thunder god's goat boy, tells how he inadvertently helped the giant ~Thrym to steal Thor's magic hammer, the lengths to which Thor must go to retrieve it, and his own assistance along the way.

DiTocco, Robyn Atlas' Revenge

Four years have passed, and the California lifestyle suits PJ Allen. But it's not meant to last. PJ must return to the mythological world to complete Hercules' Twelve Labors while the strongman is forced to hold up heavens for Atlas - who has mysteriously disappeared.

Druitt, Tobias Corydon and the Island of Monsters

Corydon, an outcast Greek boy with the leg of a goat, learns that he is part of an old prophecy and joins forces with Medusa and other "monsters" known in Greek mythology in a confrontation with mortal heroes fighting for the Olympian gods.

Farmer, Nancy The Sea of Trolls

Jack is an apprentice to the local bard, and his little sister, Lucy, believes she's a princess who will soon be rescued and returned to her castle. But it's the year 793, and fierce warriors come pillaging their village and carry the two away. Jack and Lucy must embark on a perilous journey through lands filled with trolls, dragons, giant spiders, and talking crows to get back home.

Friesner, Esther Nobody's Princess

Determined to fend for herself in a world where only men have real freedom, headstrong Helen, who will be called queen of Sparta and Helen of Troy one day, learns to fight, hunt, and ride horses while disguised as a boy, and goes on an adventure throughout the Mediterranean world.

Geras, Adele Ithaka

The island of Ithaka is overrun with uncouth suitors demanding that Penelope choose a new husband, as she patiently awaits the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War.

Lester, Julius Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire

This is the story of Cupid - the god responsible for heartache, sleepless nights, and all those silly love songs - finally getting his comeuppance. When the god of love falls in love himself, things are bound to get interesting. And when he crosses his mama, Venus, in the process...Well, things could get downright messy.

Marsh, Katherine The Night Tourist

After fourteen-year-old classics prodigy Jack Perdu has a near fatal accident he meets Euri, a young ghost who introduces him to New York's Underworld, where those who died in New York reside until they are ready to move on, and Jack vows to find his dead mother there.

McCaughrean, Geraldine Hercules

After his stepfather goads him into tasting wine, Hercules kills his family in a drunken stupor. As punishment, he becomes a slave to his wicked cousin, who compels him to perform impossible tasks during his 12 years of servitude.

McCaughrean, Geraldine Odysseus

This superb retelling includes all the great adventures of Odysseus, including his encounters with the evil Cyclops, the monsters Scylla and Charybdis, the beautiful sorceress Circe, and the vengeful god of the sea and protector of all waters, Poseidon.

McCaughrean, Geraldine Perseus

Follow Perseus as he lives the fate the oracles have declared, an impossible quest to kill the hideous, snake-haired Medusa to save his mother from marriage to an evil king. A power struggle among the gods both hinders and helps him along the way, and Perseus manages to find true love when he rescues the breathtakingly beautiful Princess Andromeda from the horrors of a bloodthirsty sea monster.

McClaren, Clemence Inside the Walls of Troy

As the Trojan war rages around them, Helen, the woman who started the conflict, and Cassandra, the one who foresaw it, develop a deep friendship. And through their eyes we see the Trojan War in a fascinating new way.

McClaren, Clemence Waiting for Odysseus

Four women - the faithful Penelope, the sorceress Circe, the goddess Athena, and the nanny Eurycleia - tell the story of Odysseus from their points of view.

Napoli, Donna Jo The Great God Pan

The great god Pan, half man and half goat, is unsure of his parentage and of his place in the universe. Where does he belong? Who will love him? When Pan falls in love with the princess Iphigenia, for whom a terrible fate awaits, he must find a way to save her.

Orgel, Doris The Princess and the God

Beautiful Psyche, shunned by her people for being more beautiful than the goddesses, wants to be plain; and indeed an enraged goddess Venus tries to make her life miserable. But Cupid falls in love with Psyche against his mother's intentions and a complicated, forbidden love begins between mortal and immortal.

Riordan, Rick The Lightning Thief

When Percy Jackson's mother sends him to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods, he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds, and together with his friends - one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Spinner, Stephanie Quiver

Cast off and abandoned at birth, Atalanta proves herself to be a superior archer and the fastest runner in the land. But her skills and independence anger many, including her father, the Arcadian king, who suddenly reclaims her and demands that she produce an heir to the throne. Atalanta has pledged herself to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, who has forbidden her to marry. Unwilling to break her promise, Atalanta suggests a grim compromise: she will marry the first man to beat her in a race, but everyone she defeats must die.

Spinner, Stephanie Quicksilver

The god Hermes has many talents. Wearing his winged sandals, he does the bidding of his father Zeus, leads the dead down to Hades, and practices his favorite arts of trickery and theft. He also sees the future, travels invisibly, loves jokes, and abhors violence. And he’s an entertaining narrator on a fast-paced journey through ancient Greek mythology - from Medusa’s cave to Trojan War battlefields to the mysterious Underworld.

Spivey, Nigel Songs on Bronze: The Greek Myths Made Real

Short story retellings of myths, including those of Perseus, Pandora, and Orpheus.

Springer, Nancy Dusssie

At age thirteen Dusie makes the horrifying discovery that she, like her New York artist mother, is a Gorgon - a Greek mythological monster sprouting snakes from her head and capable of turning humans into stone with one angry look.

Ursu, Anne Siren Song

Thirteen-year-old Charlotte must rescue humankind again when the evil Philonecron captures her cousin Zee, and Poseidon himself sends a sea monster to eat the cruise ship on which Charlotte's parents are trapped.

Yolen, Jane Jason and the Gorgon's Blood

Jason, who will grow up to become the head of the Argonauts, leads five other boys on a dangerous quest to save the kingdom of Iolcus, learning along the way what it means to be in command.

 

  Grade Level Interest
M Middle School (defined as grades 6-8).
J Junior High (defined as grades 7-9).
S Senior High (defined as grades 10-12).
A/YA Adult-marketed book recommended for teens.

 

 

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