From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9–Gryllus, Odysseus's shipmate who was turned by Circe into a (talking) swine, cheekily narrates the story of his reluctant quest to save the world. His chief interest is eating, but a prophecy dooms him to be kidnapped and chased by both good and bad characters. There's a mouthy and feisty young Sibyl; a scruffy goatherd; and a budding poet, Homer. Clues are planted; plot holes are papered over; there's lots of running, escaping, and bashing the bad guys. As in
Bug Muldoon (Viking, 2001), Shipton combines humor and action with bits of abstract thought about death and life. Gryllus remains a pig because he can't face the human condition. Why are we born to suffer and die? is the question he wants answered. Like Odysseus, Gryllus ultimately chooses to be human; like a tragic hero, he has a flaw (cowardice), but overcomes it at the last crucial moment. Many gods and goddesses appear, more flawed than divine. History is ignored: Homer, Thales, and Epicurus are contemporaries here, and the atom is split. Some humor comes from readers' knowing more than the self-important narrator, some from his superior tone and wisecracking. More farce than epic, this story does manage to provide a little bit to chew on after the laughter stops.
–Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Gr. 6--9. Talk about mock-heroic. Transformed by Circe into a big, fat, talking pig, Gryllus, who once traveled with Odysseus, tells how he escaped rampaging monsters with the brave teen prophetess, Sybil, found himself, and saved the world. The cool teen talk about the heroic journey makes for a hilarious readaloud--for those who know the old myths and those who don't--and the mockery of the contemporary scene is crude and funny. Gryllus has no time for lectures on the food chain and our place in it. He orders young Homer to buzz off and "Learn a proper trade. Like plumbing." For the heroic pig, the glorious siren call is the smell of a delicious pie. And yet with all the puns and boorish jokes and fun, there is also an epic theme with contemporary meaning: the young heroes must stop an elderly scientist from detonating the Atomos Device that could destroy the entire Cosmos.
Hazel RochmanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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