Kittenpie Reads KidLit

by Esther Friesner. Reviewed for Random House. For more information about the book, visit their site here.

(A word about publisher reviews)

You would expect that a book of historical fiction about the classical figure Helen would have something to do with Troy? In this case, no. Instead, Friesner looks into Helen's younger years, envisioning her as a princess itching for something different, more adventurous out of life, long before Paris ever enters the picture.


Helen starts learning to hunt and use weapons, avoiding needlework whenever she can, and accompanies her brothers on their errand to deliver her sister to the land of her new husband. On the return, they are drawn into adventures, and she in turn creates a few of her own, including meeting up with Atalanta to learn to ride a horse and take part in a boar hunt. By the end of the book, she has found a companion, given her guards the slip, and is headed out to try and join the crew of Jason with her brothers.


This book is pure imagining, but is fun for anyone who enjoys the spunky heroines of authors like Tamora Pierce or Nancy Springer, for example. I did find her rebellious streak and the ways in which she indulges it a bit formulaic, having read others like her, but that is to take nothing away from the book - it is still a good read for the teen who enjoys this style, and I particularly liked the way the author wove in references to ancient personages while making them more realistic. All in all, it was a solid, enjoyable read. I think I will be reading the sequel, Nobody's Prize, to see where Friesner takes it from here!

Labels: 2007, action/adventure, good stuff, historical fiction, teen