[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and North Star Editions in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Alexander is an nonathletic boy with big dreams. He wants to be a renowned hero. There’s even an oracle who says he will one day.
Then Alexander gets the chance to help Dracon who is travelling to the Olympics. Alexander is sure he can learn to do well in the various activities Dracon will do in the Pentathlon. But he’s just awful at all of them.
This is especially bad news when Dracon falls ill and can’t compete. What will Alexander do in a contest against skilled, adult men? And why did Dracon get sick at the worst possible time?
Review
There are several other books in this series, but this is the first I have read. The diary format for this means everything is told after the fact, so some of the action is lost in the retelling. But the advantages – getting Alexander’s take on events and his thoughts and feelings – outweigh the disadvantages.
The story is reasonably engaging, although possibly predictable for some readers. There’s a slow build up to the big action of the story, but the final contest and the resolution were enjoyable.
Kids who love the Olympics and are missing the games this year might enjoy this story and the extensive end notes on the Olympics. There are also mid-chapter notes, but they are placed in a way that they are informative instead of interrupting the flow of the story. I really appreciated that detail.
Hand this to fans of diary-format stories as well as fans of the Olympic games. (As Olympians competed in the nude, illustrations include some bare backsides.)
Rating: ♥♥½*
*♥♥½ = Mostly solid to solid