Hades: Lord of the Dead (Olympians)
O’Connor makes a couple of very clever moves in this fourth book in the Olympians series. First off, he takes readers on a tour of the underworld as if they had just died themselves (“Hopefully, after you died, a loved one placed a coin in your mouth”). Then, just as Hera (2011) was really the story of Hercules, this book is really the story of Persephone. In O’Connor’s depiction, she could well be the world’s first goth girl as she rebels against her overly protective mother, Demeter, and embraces her dark side, black eyeshadow and all. Another winner from a top-notch series. Grades 6-9. --Ian Chipman--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.