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Joan Holub , Suzanne Williams

The Girls Games (Goddess Girls, Super Special)

YEAR: 2012

COUNTRY: United States of America

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Title of the work

The Girls Games (Goddess Girls, Super Special)

Country of the First Edition

Country/countries of popularity

Worldwide

Original Language

English

First Edition Date

2012

First Edition Details

Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, Goddess Girls: Super Special: The Girls Games. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, Aladdin Press, 2012, 320 pp.

ISBN

9781442449343 (ebook)

Genre

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

Target Audience

Children (Older children, 8–12 yrs)

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, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il

Daniel A. Nkemleke, University of Yaoundé 1, nkemlekedan@yahoo.com 

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Leaf pattern

Title of the work

The Girls Games (Goddess Girls, Super Special)

Country of the First Edition

Country/countries of popularity

Worldwide

Original Language

English

First Edition Date

2012

First Edition Details

Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, Goddess Girls: Super Special: The Girls Games. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, Aladdin Press, 2012, 320 pp.

ISBN

9781442449343 (ebook)

Genre

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

Target Audience

Children (Older children, 8–12 yrs)

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, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il

Daniel A. Nkemleke, University of Yaoundé 1, nkemlekedan@yahoo.com 

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

In this special issue, the four goddess girls, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis and Persephone, decide to establish an all-girls Olympic Games, after girls were excluded from the regular Olympic Games. This story also shows that small ripples can make a big wave. Now even the god boys are interested in the games, as Persephone wonders, “Since when had the boys started caring so much? … Not long ago they hadn’t even wanted the girls to have their own Games!” (pp. 205–206). The boys are caught up in the excitement and this leads to mutual work and understanding. At the same time, the girls learn about responsibility when Aphrodite finds a kitten, Adonis, and decides to adopt it, which causes rivalry between her and Persephone for the cat’s affection, in a humorous take on the mythological story.

Analysis

This special issue is one of the most girl-empowering moments in the series, with girls who do not give in and actively try to change things. Since the games are intended for girls only, paralleling the regular boys-only games, this is the first example of equality being achieved on Olympus. However, things prove to be harder than imagined, as there is no real sense of girls’ comradery at the start. Interestingly, the ones who make things more difficult for Artemis, are the Amazons. Artemis is nervous; she wants to prove she can organize the games, and muses that “If you acted brave, people usually believed you were.” (p. 163). The gap between appearances and inner feelings is a recurring motif in the series (as it is a regular behaviour in real life). Artemis’ own anxiety and her will to prove she can handle everything on her own causes the other girls to misunderstand her, as Athena thinks, “When it came to the Games, it was like Artemis had forgotten how to trust anyone else to do anything to help out!” (pp. 370–371). Artemis therefore misses the true meaning of the games, which are supposed to celebrate sisterhood around the world.

While the girls and the boys are not separate groups, but all work together to achieve a common goal, yet the girls are still afraid to disappoint the boys who coach them for the competitions. Thus on the one hand we have an all-girls event, yet on the other, the girls are still conscious of the boys, which dilutes the girl empowerment message somewhat.

Addenda

This review refers to the Kindle edition.

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