| Booktalk
#1
Siphnos is bathed in blood
and fire. Once again my home has been snatched from me. If
not for my goddess, I too would be part of that blood bath. My goddess
gave me courage to jump from the cliff into the water. She gave me
will and strength to snatch an octopus from the sea and plant it firmly
on my head and the voice to shout into the winds, “I am Medusa! Look
upon me and die!” This curse struck terror in the bloodthirsty pirates
and they left my desolate island home. What will become of an orphan
on an island where nothing lives? Has my goddess given me a blessing
or a curse?
Prepared by: Samantha McManus
for South Carolina
Junior Book Award 2005
Booktalk #2
Goddess of Yesterday is the
story of Anaxandra who lives on an island in the Aegean Sea. When
she is six years old, she is taken by a king from a neighboring island.
Her job is to be a companion to his daughter Princess Callisto. Six
years later when Anaxandra is twelve, she is the sole survivor of the island
after pirates attack she island where she has been living. A group
of ships led by Menelaus, king of Sparta, comes to investigate. Anaxandra
decides to impersonate Princess Callisto in order to avoid being taken
as a slave. Menelaus is kind to Anaxandra, but his wife Helen is
self-centered and suspicious of this red-headed child that her husband
brought home. Read Goddess of Yesterday to find out how Anaxandra
becomes involved in a war between two countries, to discover if Anaxandra
is able to keep her true identity a secret, and whether Anaxandra ever
finds a place she can call home. (Karen Williamson, williakw@pickens.k12.sc.us,
Pickens High School, Pickens, South Carolina)
Booktalk #3
This story is set in ancient
Greece during the time of the Trojan Wars. Anaxandra, the daughter of a
pirate chieftain, is taken from her island as a hostage to be a playmate
for Nicander’s daughter, Callisto. Who is the goddess of yesterday? She
is Medusa; the gorgon goddess who you may remember has snakes in her hair.
Anaxandra grows to love her hostage family and but hostile pirates take
over the island…Anaxandra escapes and then she is found by King Menelaus
who mistakes her for Callisto. Anaxandra decides to play along…after all,
what fate would be in store for a mere playmate to a dead princess…and
has many adventures where she meets Helen of Troy, Paris and Agamemnon.
Goddess of Yesterday is a terrific
story if the ancient Greeks and Classical Mythology fascinate you. (Melissa
Bowman, Melissa.Bowman@pisd.edu, Armstrong Middle School, Lone Star
Book Award nominee, 2003-2004) |
