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Joan Holub , Suzanne Williams

Athena the Wise (Goddess Girls, 5)

YEAR: 2011

COUNTRY: United States of America

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Title of the work

Athena the Wise (Goddess Girls, 5)

Country of the First Edition

Country/countries of popularity

Worldwide

Original Language

English

First Edition Date

2011

First Edition Details

Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, Athena the Wise (Goddess Girls). New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, Aladdin Press, 2011, 240 pp.

ISBN

9781416982746 (paperback) / 9781442420977 (ebook)

Genre

Alternative histories (Fiction)
Bildungsromans (Coming-of-age fiction)
Fiction
Humor
Mythological fiction
Novels
School story*

Target Audience

Children (Older children, 8–12 years old)

Cover

Missing cover

We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.


Author of the Entry:

Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com 

Peer-reviewer of the Entry:

Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, mauril68@gmail.com

Elizabeth Hale, University of New England, ehale@une.edu.au

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Title of the work

Athena the Wise (Goddess Girls, 5)

Country of the First Edition

Country/countries of popularity

Worldwide

Original Language

English

First Edition Date

2011

First Edition Details

Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, Athena the Wise (Goddess Girls). New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, Aladdin Press, 2011, 240 pp.

ISBN

9781416982746 (paperback) / 9781442420977 (ebook)

Genre

Alternative histories (Fiction)
Bildungsromans (Coming-of-age fiction)
Fiction
Humor
Mythological fiction
Novels
School story*

Target Audience

Children (Older children, 8–12 years old)

Cover

Missing cover

We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.


Author of the Entry:

Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com 

Peer-reviewer of the Entry:

Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, mauril68@gmail.com

Elizabeth Hale, University of New England, ehale@une.edu.au

Photo courtesy of Joan Holub.

Joan Holub (Author)

Joan Holub is a prolific children's author from the USA. Graduated from college in Texas with a fine arts degree. Worked as an art director at Scholastic trade books in New York. She has written and/or illustrated over 150 children's books. She has developed a range of series for teenagers on mythological themes: Goddess Girls, set in Mount Olympus Academy, Grimmtastic Tales series, set in Grimm Academy, Thunder Girls, about Norse gods set in Asgard Academy, and Heroes in Training, in which the male Greek gods, as very young men, set out on a range of adventures. For pre-school children, Jan Holub has written on a range of topics including several works with religious and historical themes. These include: This Little President; This Little Trailblazer, Hooray for St. Patrick’s Day!, and Light the Candles: A Hanukkah Lift-the-Flap Book. Joan Holub trained in fine art and worked as an art director at a graphic design company before becoming a children's illustrator and then author.

 

Sources:

Official website (accessed: July 2, 2018).

Profile at the penguinrandomhouse.com (accessed: July 2, 2018).

Profile at the simonandschuster.com (accessed: July 2, 2018).



Bio prepared by Sonya Nevin, University of Roehampton, sonya.nevin@roehampton.ac.uk and Allison Rosenblum, Bar-Ilan University, allie.rose89@gmail.com and Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com


Courtesy of the Author from her personal website.

Suzanne Williams (Author)

Suzanne Williams is an American prolific children's author and former elementary school librarian. She has written over 60 books for children.

She grew up in Oregon and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s in library science from the University of Oregon. She currently lives in Reno, Washington.


Source: 

Official website (accessed: May 29, 2018).

 


Bio prepared by Ayelet Peer, Bar-Ilan University, ayelet.peer@gmail.com


Summary

General summary for the series see underAthena the Brain.

In this installment, Athena meets the new boy in school, especially admitted by the headmaster Zeus – the boy Heracles (the Greek pronunciation is kept). The wise Athena is confronted with the brawny Heracles and the two form a strong friendship in which Athena helps Heracles in his dangerous tasks while he encourages her with her own problems. Furthermore it appears that bullying is not a problem only on earth. In the book we have two parallel main story lines; Heracles’ tasks and Athena-Arachne confrontation. The combination of Athena’s and Heracles’ characters would decide the results of both.

Analysis

This installment pairs Athena – the wisest girl in school, with the new mortal boy, Heracles. The theme of “don’t judge a book by its cover” is again repeated, when Heracles’ appearance, clad in lion’s skin deters some of the kids. As Athena thought: “A lion cape was perhaps overkill as a fashion statement.” (p. 2). As the former new kid at school, Athena is sympathetic to Heracles’ condition and his desire to fit it. “‘Maybe we should try to put ourselves in his sandals and wonder what he’s thinking of us, instead of the other way around,’ she suggested.” (p. 5). When Zeus, her father, asks Athena to help and guide the new boy, because she is “goddessgirl of wisdom” (p. 19), she agrees. 

Heracles story line deviates from the more known myths about him. The tasks are dealt with more humour and there is no hint at any violence on his part. On the contrary; in an interesting twist, Heracles, the ultimate hero of myth, is in fact being bullied at school and principal Zeus helps him through it. Heracles’ past is narrated comically, when Zeus tells Athena that in his former school Heracles got into a fight with his music teacher: “The long and short of it is that Heracles wound up smashing a lyre over the teacher’s head.” (p. 18). Of course in the original myth Heracles kills Linus, his music teacher in a fit of anger. Heracles’ character traits of being hot-tempered and not so clever are repeated here, but since he is a kid, he could also change into the right course.

Athena assists Heracles with his missions – his “to-do” list given to him by his cousin Eurystheus. Zeus was responsible for giving the labors to Heracles so he can prove his worth, before he is admitted to the gods’ academy; yet Zeus did not know that Eurystheus would choose such difficult tasks this is why he asked Athena to help the boy. The labors are quite similar yet at the same time different than the original myth which is a refreshing approach. Athena and her friends help Heracles to complete them, Hades even lets him borrow Cerberus, and Artemis helps with a deer. For example, the Hydra is a foul and annoying creature. It is being caught when all the heads argue with each other and more popped out and soon they were trapped in the lair. No killing needed. Athena “was pleased with herself for showing him that violence wasn’t the only way to solve a problem.” (p. 66). This teaches children that you have many ways to solve a problem. The boar is also different than expected. He chats with the children boring them with stories “This was one boring boar!” (p. 108). It gladly goes with them to Eurystheus’ house. Eurystheus is apparently hiding inside a bronze vase and Heracles’ brings the boar closer to him. Of course Eurystheus in the vase is a well-known story in the myth of Heracles.

Ironically however, Athena restrains Heracles’ temper, yet when she faces Arachne who upsets her and makes fun of her family, she is the one who cannot control her temper and turns the mortal girl into a spider. Athena thinks: “She’d lashed out in a way that was more like Heracles than like her, using violence to solve her problem. […] Still, she couldn’t help wondering if, instead of delivering justice, she’d simply been vengeful. How did one tell the difference?” (p. 193).

This shows that anyone can lose their temper form time to time and the results are severe and there is a fine line between justice and revenge. Although Athena does not regret her action and this is an interesting development. The authors do not make her turn the girl human again and Athena does not seem to bother about it too much and in the end accepts her behaviour and that gods can lose their temper as mortals.


Addenda

The review refers to the Kindle edition.

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