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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Book Review: King of Ithaca by Tracy Barrett

King of Ithaka by Tracy Barrett
Ever pick up a book while thinking, I'm not going to like this but I'll give it a girl scout try; then you find yourself totally blown away from its brilliance? I'm talking about a book which might have been a catalog from a tool store as far as my interest in that subject matter was concerned. But OMG, "King of Ithaca" by Tracy Barrett is an absolutely amazing book!

Tracy took a teen, with a name I can't pronounce, and sent him on a perilous journey to find his missing father, none other than Odysseus. She threw in the wit of a stinky, cave-dwelling monster, the camaraderie of good friends, a few mythological twists, multiple near death experiences and voila, a page turner I couldn't put down. Tracy, your book is brilliant! Up there with Percy Jackson's fantastic quests but fresh in that it wasn't overdone in the area of monsters and myth. In fact, the scariest monsters were of the human variety.

I know my students will love "The King of Ithaca"; however, once one kid reads it and starts talking, it's going to become so popular in my classroom that I may have trouble prying it out of their little fingers. I've got to get Tracy to autograph my copy at the Midsouth SCBWI Conference, so do I let the little scholars circulate it or do I hold it at home until after the conference? Oy! Such a wonderful problem.

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4 comments:

Evelyn said...

Joyce, I've read Tracy's book and you're right--it's great! Of course, unlike you, I was predisposed to like it since I took four years of Latin and my mother was a Latin teacher. But even so, I was in for a delightful surprise. Tracy knows how to add some clever twists to those ancient stories that keep you guessing.

Tracy Barrett said...

Thank you, Joyce and Ev!

Sandee said...

Good to know and a great review by the way.

Have a terrific day. :)

Hektor Karl said...

Thanks for the review. This book is very high on my to-be-read list. I love this period of myth/Greek history.