Corydon and the Island of Monsters

Starred review from February 13, 2006
Young fans of Greek mythology will most appreciate this winning first novel, the launch title in a planned trilogy, by an Oxford mother-and-son (then eight years old) writing team. In a clever twist, the thrust of the story portrays the struggle between classic Greek monsters, who play on readers' sympathies here, and the less appealing heroes and gods. Corydon, a young shepherd, is considered a "pharmakos," or scapegoat, for his village because he was born with the foot of a goat. He survives by stealing sheep and then looking after them, but he is soon captured by pirates, who put him on display in a freak show with other monsters. Corydon helps the imprisoned creatures to escape and they become a kind of family, including Sphinx, two amusing Gorgon sisters and Medusa, with whom he develops a tender mother-son relationship. The group guides him to fulfill the prophecy (that he "will become one with the monsters and... together they shall make the whole land clean")—in which he must battle Olympia itself. In the most gripping scene, loyal and courageous Minotaur accompanies Corydon to the underworld to fend off the teeming, bloodsucking dead and other ghastly experiences with the help of the Staff. With all the elements of a true adventure story (including Corydon's discovery of his father's identity), this novel will have wide appeal. Ages 10-up.