Iris, Messenger
Iris Greenwold is a dreamer; it's how she escapes her miserable  existence. Her mother researches soybeans for an uncaring employer and her  wacky father lives far away and pays almost no attention to her. Erebus  Middle School is awful, with classmates who torment her and teachers who  don't understand why she doesn't pay attention. And then, for her 12th  birthday, Iris receives an incredible gift: Bulfinch's Mythology. Reading  about the exploits of the Greek gods is right up her alley, but she is  puzzled when mysterious messages start popping up in the book's pages and  downright startled to discover that the gods are all living nearby at the  New Jersey shore and in the Philadelphia area. Moreover, they desperately  need her help. As she meets such figures as Poseidon (who runs a seaside  oyster shack), Apollo (owner of a cool jazz club), and Aphrodite (stylist  extraordinaire), she's also treated to firsthand accounts of Greek myths.  This engaging story of an unhappy girl whose dreaming pays off in wonderful  ways will be a hit with adolescents dealing with those difficult middle  school years. Give it to readers who gobble up Rick Riordan's "Percy  Jackson and the Olympians" series (Hyperion/Miramax) and other novels where  teens interact with the Greek pantheon. --School Library Journal, July 1, 2007