Athena the Wise

Goddess Girls #5

by Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams

These classic myths from the Greek pantheon are given a modern twist that contemporary tweens can relate to, from dealing with bullies like Medusa to a first crush on an unlikely boy. Goddess Girls follows four goddesses-in-training – Athena, Persephone, Aphrodite, and Artemis – as they navigate the ins and outs of divine social life at Mount Olympus Academy, where the most priviledged gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon hone their mythical skills.

In book 5, Principal Zeus asks Athena to help Heracles (aka Hercules in the Roman pantheon) complete his twelve labors. But when Heracles starts borrowing Athena's friends things without asking, will she be able to help him set things straight?

Genres: Mythology, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Greek Mythology, Fiction, Retellings

246 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2011

About the author

NY Times bestselling children's book author:
GODDESS GIRLS series + HEROES IN TRAINING series (w Suzanne Williams); THIS LITTLE TRAILBLAZER a Girl Power Primer; ZERO THE HERO; I AM THE SHARK. Lucky to be doing what I love!

Reviews

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series, all the books are a really cute way to introduce tiny humans to Greek mythology.
Despite the title, this is actually a book about Hercules and his 12 labours.
Entertaining and education, I would definitely recommend this to small peoples.

[Desiree May · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, "Goddess Girls: Athena the Wise", written by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams, was very unique and adoring."Goddess Girls: Athena the Wise", is about a boy that recently just got invited to attend Mount Olympus Academy, if he could finish the 12 labors that he was assigned. But, of course he would get the help from a goddess girl who might have just happened to be assigned to his case especially. The main characters of this fiction are Athena and Heracles (Hercules), while the minor characters are Artemis, Aphrodite, Persephone, Pheme, Pandora, Arachne, Iris, Apollo, Dionysus, Poseidon, Hades, Ares, Zephyrus, Eros, Medusa, Cassandra, Phaeton. For this book, the characters aren't real but, they do seem really real and believable, and just like real people they face ups and downs, and just like us they have traits. Athena traits are bookworm, studious, caring, confident, angry when provoked, easy going and sometimes haughty. Her appearance are long wavy brown hair, grey eyes, plumed lips, arched eyebrows, straight nose, olive skin, and average height. One evidence that shows that she is caring is "...but every few minutes she glanced toward the door, hoping to see a note from Heracles under it. When a knock finally sounded, she jumped up in relief", this following written evidence shows that Athena is so worried and cares so much for Heracles that she checks for his message every few minutes. Heracles traits are cocky, sassy, funny, kind, dense, hot-headed, passionate, and confident. His appearances are black hair, brown eyes, tall, muscular, and toned body. Something that Heracles said that shows that he's easily angered from the book is, "How dare she treat you like that!" Heracles roared when Athena told him what had happen with Arachne....he continued to rant and wave his club around." Which shows that Heracles gets really angry once something bad happens to people around him, that he could have been in control of. In my opinion, I really liked this book! One thing that I really liked about this book was the comedy hidden within the chapters, that made the story more entertaining to read. I also liked how the characters in this book faced real life problems that many people, including myself have faced. I would love to recommend this book to people in their Tweens and Teens, and although this book might be for 4th graders it's really for anyone who loves a little romance in their story that's realistic, cute, and not too overboard with the romance.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the Goddess Girls series by Joan Holub. Our oldest has really gotten interested in Greek Mythology and loves this series. I like them as well and they have a fresh, young vibe that will appeal to the pre-teen, young teen girl audience.

This story is longer than the first book in the series and it also gets a little deeper into a romantic aspect. Our girls are not quite ready for that yet, but thankfully it's still PG. We've enjoyed this series so far and our girls are eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, Aphrodite the Diva.

[DivyaRani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love mythology. Greek, Roman, or Norse whatever.
This series I started for Athena the goddess of wisdom. Amazing book. I loved it.
Loved the narration of story .
Loved the plot of friendship between four goddess girls.
Loved the 12 tasks of Hercules.
Finally
Loved the ending part.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

My least favorite so far. Heracles is a stupid character. I don't see why Athena likes him..

[Lady Tea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 / 5

Quite cute, and interesting representations of the "12 Labours of Hercules".

(Although, I must say, I did NOT see that coming at the end! It was cute, regardless, though.) 😊

[Britt N · Rating 5 out of 5]

These Goddess Girls books are just so sweet. Just nice, gentle ways to introduce kids to Greek mythology.

[Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Goddess Girls series! I think this is fantastic series that not only teaches grade school and middle grader readers about Greek Mythology with a fun twist, but the series is a fun, engaging read set at their level. Joan and Suzanne have done a wonderful job with not only making the Greek Gods and Goddess relatable, but they've made them so readers get to see them in similar situations they may find themselves in. I also like the fact that each book teaches a message.

Athena The Wise is a fun character. Being the daughter of the school's principal is hard enough, but it's even harder when your dad is Zeus and he wants you to befriend the new student, Hercules. Things don't turn out quite the way Athena planned when she tries to help Hercules pass the 12 tests her father gave him in order to become a god and remain at the academy.

What was so enjoyable about Athena and Hercules is not only watching their relationship bloom, but watching their friendship develop and learning more about themselves in the process of trying to complete the 12 tasks. Joan and Suzanne throw in a wonderful twist at the end that has made me realize I might have been a bad judge of character with Zeus. This is a wonderful, clean cut series about friendship, and seeing how each of the partners/couples first met. I love the setting, the academy and getting to see how all the Gods and Goddess interact. I highly recommend Athena The Wise and the Goddess Girls series.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series isn't shaping out to be as perfect as I thought it was when I first read it. I did enjoy Heracle's labours as a storyline but Athena was waaay too obsessed with him even after promising her friends she wouldn't forget them just because of a boy. Also, I found the writing style pretty poor and, unlike most of the other books in this series, the way that the whole gods thing was dealt with just felt wrong to me. I do understand that the authors are trying to stick to the original myths as much as possible, and I can see kids approaching these myths later on and having this pre-knowledge which helps them understand it (this has happened to me with many of the storylines in this series). There was even a lot of cool commentary on when revenge is justified and how revenge should be practised, but my problem was that it all kind of came to nothing - Athena acted violently anyway just because she's now a goddess and a mortal offended her. I feel like these authors are usually so good at making the more mature aspects of the myths seem friendly and pleasant but to me they dropped the ball on this one.

Having said that, I LOVED the way that the ninth task was dealt with and the end was very funny and cute. Overall a good book, but definitely some problematic elements for me.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Athena is a fairly new resident at the boarding school for young gods and goddesses. Therefore she feels sympathy when an even newer kid takes up residence. Then her dad, Zeus, who is principal at the school, asks her to help the new kid with these 12 tasks.... Basically these are mostly retellings of the Greek myths, more or less transferred into modern times.At least in the way the "kids" think and react to the authority figures. This is pretty funny in many ways. If nothing else, it introduces kids to characters they will encounter again in Riordan's series with Greek gods and demigods! Very enjoyable but I don't get any feeling of really being impressed with it. I'll have to think why that is, so this review might get modified in the future. This is one of an expanding series, so likely will try a few more anyway.

[Ashley W · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://beautifullybookish.booklikes.c...

[Sting Key · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! I would probably say it was my favorite goddess girls book so far!

[Sarah Wahl]

It's so funny to see the 12 labors made more PG lol.

[Violet Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t remember reading this but the cover is familiar (I remember drawing a picture of the guy on the cover and being proud of it)

[Meg McGregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Athena the Wise, is the fifth book, in the Goddess Girls series!

This is such a fun read; and what a great idea on how to interest younger readers into Greek Mythology!

I’ve always loved Greek mythology; so I would have devoured, all these stories, during my upper elementary and Middle School years!

As a teacher and nanny, I tried to teach my students, to be the best they can be! For the little girls I watched our mantra was: " I am responsible, I am important, I am intelligent, I can be whomever I want to be!"

In this story, Athena learns, that even gods and goddesses have doubts if they have done the "right thing for the right reasons!"

"You don't think I was too harsh?" she asked.

"No way, Arachne deserved it." (Heracles)

His words were a comfort, but Athena still had doubts about whether she'd done the right thing.

Heracles' view of the world was so simple. for him, right and wrong were easy to distinguish, like black and white. Not so for her. She saw things in shades of gray, which meant some things were sort of right and sort of wrong.

If she'd learned one thing from her encounter with Arachne, it was that all gods, herself included, could act as rashly as mortals, when anger ran away with them. Perhaps true wisdom meant realizing and accepting that!"

Athena is definitely a wise young lady!

The only drawback I have is, would the target audience be able to understand, all the mythological references?

Perhaps a list of the main characters and places, with a few facts about each, would help Ms. Holub's readers, enjoy this series even more!

I love this series and will definitely be reading all of them!

[✧ hayley (the sugar bowl) ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

➳ 4 ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

another hercules story? yes please! i know this book doesn’t follow anywhere close to the disney movie, my reason for living, because this one follows the actual mythology, but still…hercules! (or, heracles, the true greek form, as this book uses).

anyway, this book was just as cute as the rest of them and i enjoyed it a lot! i enjoyed the 12 labors plot and heracles * athena’s relationship. athena isn’t my favorite main character, but i still like her a lot.

i’d highly recommend this to greek mythology-enthusiasts who don’t mind a young, simple read!


୧ ‧₊˚ 🍓 ⋅ ☆

[Hermione_Owl · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, Heracles has the same personality as Orion. Ya, I don't want to talk about Orion. But as you read more, you find that Heracles is 100x better than Orion. He cares about other people and doesn't think he's the best. He was grateful that Athena helped him with his 12 labors. I just love Heracles! I honestly hate ( in movies and in books) when a 2 characters love each other, but when the guy or girl kisses the guy/girl, that person gets upset and doesn't like it. I HATE THAT. Thats what happened to Herales and Athena. Athenas the one who got upset that Heracles kissed him. Makes me too mad. But overall, this book was really good. Filled with adventure, monsters, and more.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Athena now has to deal with Heracles and helping him complete his Labors. It’s pretty stressful, even for someone as wise as Athena. This is an excellent Goddess Girl novel, except for one thing. Athena is crushing on Heracles. I know this is a middle school novel and the characters are at the mental ages where they are discovering love, but Athena? Really? Not everyone has to be in a romantic relationship, especially not Athena, the goddess known for not dating anyone. Otherwise, this is a great little novel.

[Suzanne Warr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this return to Mount Olympus Academy, and loved the clever ways Athena found to accomplish the tasks she and Hercles have to accomplish. A great example of using brain over brawn and thinking outside the box! Get my full spotlight--plus the cat's two cents--on my blog, and happy reading!

[kaotickitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book got back to a loose mythological truth. What I mean is it follows the myths much more closely than the previous one did. Athena shows her self to have self respect and the wisdom she is known for. This book has a slight morality lesson in it. That it is better to think before you react in anger.

[Karen Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and cute. I suppose I might have been a bit of a grouch in my first review but I am glad that this book is slightly more acceptable! The characters have depth in them and Athena actually reveals more vulnerability than in the first novel so I'm proud of her. A fun read to pass the time.

[aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read with Fiona. This one takes the classic Greek myths and puts them into a modern high school setting. Athena is tasked by her father (and principal of the school) Zeus to help out with some trials for Heracles and in the process ends up befriending him (and maybe more?). It was a fun little read and Fiona may pick up more.

[Zainab · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a class, and it was nice. It was a fun way to read a story about the Gods/Goddesses through a fictional style as these characters were portrayed as school students. It was short and simple and enjoyable.

[Kátia Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with this series and if possible I'd like to read all the books and if you are into mythology you should too.In this one Athena is helping Heracles fulfil his 12 labours. A different version of the original story but as original as it could be.

[☯Meera☯ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember these books! I loved them. They were so cute. I still remember a bit of them from when I was nine, and I can't believe it's been years since I read them.

[Jordan Hillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Athena has the brains and Hercules has the muscles. They are absolutely a great couple, and Greek Mythology is so interesting.

[Myrtle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book but not accurate to the 12 tasks

[Liora · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Amanda Grainger · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a nice chilled read. Keeps you on your feet and eager for more

[Gracee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had fun reading the whole series, it’s good to see mythology being incorporated into an academy setting which makes it inviting for kids. This one is about Athena, the wise!!