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Athena & the Magic Land

Modern day, normal Athena is on her way home from school and playing a video game along the way. She is engrossed in the game, which includes a cute digital dog named Oliver when she has a run-in with mean girl, Medusa. These people sound familiar. Not surprisingly, Athena gets swept up in a magical storm that sends her close to Mt. Olympus wearing clothes that look suspiciously Greek . A tiny goddess, Hestia, advises her to walk along the ‘Hello Brick Road’ (also familiar…) to meet Zeus, who can help her return home. Along the way, she meets up with a Medusa who looks a lot like the nasty one from home, but has snakes for hair and wants her magical sandals so badly she’ll turn Oliver to stone. Athena also helps a new friend, Persephone, who tags along hoping to ask for some magic help from Zeus, too.

We don’t find out in this book whether they make it to Mt. Olympus yet. That sets us up for future books and adventures. Black and white illustrations move the story along and unfamiliar words and characters are explained on the “Cast of characters” page and “Word List” page. There are also questions at the back for reflection. This is a simple read that will be perfect for those readers that want to move away from picture books, but aren’t quite ready for chapter books. The story line is a bit saccharine, but does introduce some mythological characters and might pique interest in further exploration.

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About Candy Ranney

Candy is an elementary school librarian in Shelton, WA at the school where she was a student (so many years ago!). Her library is unique in that she brings her background and love of biology to her students in many ways. Not only does she have an awesome selection of science books; she also has a beaver, bobcat and mink sitting on her shelves and a variety of jarred specimens for her students to study. When she's not in the library, she is taking care of her baby trees on her tree farm and hanging out with her family and many pets.