Have you ever wondered what some of your favorite authors are reading? Ever finish a book and want to immerse yourself in a familiar tone that evokes similar emotions? Do you want to know what books your favorite author can’t stop thinking about? If so, you’re in luck. We’re launching the Three Favorites feature series, where we let authors recommend their three favorite books based around either a specific theme or just three general favorites they want to share with readers. Our first Three Favorites is from National Book Award finalist author Katherine Marsh. Her new book The Myth of Monsters: Medusa is a fantastical adventure for fans of Percy Jackson and Wednesday.
So, without further ado, what are Katherine Marsh’s Three Favorites For Greek Mythology Fans?
Hi, I’m Katherine Marsh, 2023 National Book Award finalist of The Lost Year, Nowhere Boy and other great middle grade stories. I’m so excited to introduce my new myth-based series The Myth of Monsters: Medusa, out now!
If you like Percy Jackson, you will enjoy Medusa. It’s about a girl named Ava who goes to a magic school, kind of like in Harry Potter or Wednesday, and discovers she’s a descendent of the Greek…gods, you ask? No! You’ve heard that one before. Ava is descended from a monster. This story will challenge everything you think you know about the Greek myths.
I love myths so much that this is actually my second Greek myth-based series. My first, The Night Tourist, won an Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. Here are three suggestions of myth-tastic books I love.
D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths
This, my friends, is The Source. I was a child myself when I fell in love with this evocatively illustrated kid-friend compendium of Greek myths. I must have taken it out from the Yonkers Public Library a hundred times. The D’Aulaires (a legendary husband and wife team) give you a sound basis of everything and everyone you need to know to jump into any fantasy-based Greek myth series, as well as to read original sources like Ovid or Hesiod. The presentation is chronological from the world’s creation to the Gods packing it in, but the best part is you can skip around to your favorite stories. The final illustration still makes me cry.
The Odyssey and The Iliad by Gareth Hinds
I am not a graphic novel person. That said, I know a lot of kids are and there is no better way to introduce them to the Greek heroes, gods and monsters than through Gareth Hinds. A trained artist who started out in comics and video game design, Hinds expertly captures the visual appeal and action of these stories for readers who might find themselves otherwise snoozing at the idea of ancient classics. Start with The Odyssey for younger readers and then, when they’re wondering what that war was all about that Odysseus is trying to get home from, introduce The Iliad. The Aeneid, the third great epic which depicts the journey to found Rome, is in the works.
Amber and Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz
I am a big fan of Schlitz who is one of the most original and literary authors writing for children today. Amber and Clay is Schlitz’s masterpiece, a myth-adjacent epic set in Ancient Greece in which the paths of two children, a wealthy girl whose life is circumscribed by her sex, and a motherless slave boy with a limited future, intersect. The gods wing their way through the book, directing the fates of mortals with their usual capriciousness. This story, like all the best, operates on many levels. Kids may follow only the most transparent, which is why I recommend this as a family read aloud. Adults too will find depth in this reimagining of a lost ancient world, and the universal themes of love, philosophical inquiry, and mortality.
Special thanks to Katherine Marsh for sharing her Three Favorites for Greek Mythology with us! If you have a suggestion for another author’s Three Favorites, please leave us a comment below or connect with us on our Discord server via the Books Channel.
The Myth of Monsters: Medusa is now available to purchase in hardcover, ebook, and audio book formats.
Featured image designed by Jon Negroni. Read more articles by Brianna Robinson here.
Brianna Robinson is a book publicist and Sarah Lawrence College alum. She lives in New York with too many books and two enthusiastic dachshunds. You can find her on twitter @blrobins2.
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