The goddess girls of Mount Olympus Academy want a fair chance to compete in the Olympics—and boys only is NOT fair! It’s time for the annual Olympic Games, and the girls at MOA are not pleased—because the Olympics are for boys only! Led by Artemis, Athena, Persphone, and Aphrodite, the ladies of Mount Olympus hatch a plan to get Zeus to open up the games to everyone. Will they succeed—or end up watching from the sidelines? Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated over 140 children’s books, including the Goddess Girls series, the Heroes in Training series, the New York Times bestselling picture book Mighty Dads (illustrated by James Dean), and Little Red Writing (illustrated by Melissa Sweet). She lives in North Carolina and is online at JoanHolub.com. Suzanne Williams is a former elementary school librarian and the author of over seventy books for children, including the award-winning picture books Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg) and My Dog Never Says Please (illustrated by Tedd Arnold), and several chapter book and middle grade series. She also coauthors the Goddess Girls and Thunder Girls series with the fantastic Joan Holub. Visit her at Suzanne-Williams.com. Artemis the Loyal 1 No Girls Allowed RACE YOU TO THE SPORTS FIELDS!” ARTEMIS challenged her twin brother, Apollo, as they crossed Mount Olympus Academy’s courtyard on Wednesday afternoon. Practices for the Olympic Games, which would take place on Saturday, were now in progress. Talented athletes from all over Greece, Mount Olympus, and other magical realms, had come to MOA to compete. Apollo crouched in a runner’s stance with his fingertips touching the courtyard’s marble tiles. “You’re on.” Artemis crouched too. “Ready. Set. Go! ” she shouted. They took off at the exact same moment. Both immortal twins flew across the courtyard and down a crowded grassy hill, legs pumping. Artemis’s three dogs kept pace beside them. They liked to run too! The twins’ best sport was archery, but Artemis loved any kind of athletic competition. As archers, she and her brother were evenly matched. However, with some extra effort she could usually beat him in a race. Right now he was a couple of feet behind her. Slowly, she began to widen her lead, her eyes on the sports fields. Ahead of them, colorful banners waved high on the flagpoles that lined the edges of the largest field. Each had a logo for a particular sport. However, there was no logo for archery. It wasn’t an Olympic event. Not that it mattered in Artemis’s case. She had no chance at winning in the Olympics. Why? Because all those competitors here for the Games? Every single one of them was a boy. Not a girl among them. Girls were not allowed to compete in the Games. Thinking about it, Artemis’s shoulders tightened. It wasn’t fair! She glanced back at Apollo. Ye gods! He was gaining on her! Just then Ares, who was the fastest runner at MOA, saw them coming. A crowd of students had gathered alongside one of the tracks to watch the foot race practices and he was among them. Grinning at Apollo, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out: “Go! You can beat her. She’s a girl !” That did it! Gritting her teeth, Artemis gathered all her determination. Her eyes locked on the finish line. With a huge burst of speed, she sprinted across the edge of the field, well ahead of Apollo. “Whoa!” shouted Ares. He jumped back to avoid her plowing into him before she could skid to a stop. As she stood catching her breath, Artemis shot him a superior glance. “I may only be a girl , but I won, didn’t I?” “Uh-huh, sure. Good race,” Ares said lamely. Artemis had noticed that whenever a girl was good at sports, boys seemed to lose interest. Turning, she saw Apollo standing behind her. His face was as red as her favorite chiton. “Thanks a lot!” he grumbled. “Way to embarrass me in front of my friends!” What? she thought. I’m supposed to lose, just so he can save face? No way! “Hey, Artemis, over here!” Athena called from the stands. A light breeze blew a lock of the goddessgirl’s naturally wavy brown hair across her cheek, and she pushed it back with one hand as she waved with her other. Still annoyed at her brother, Artemis stomped off to sit with her friend. All the event practices were going on at the same time, and Athena was watching the discus-throwing. She scooted over to make room for Artemis. A godboy named Atlas was up first. He held a discus—a disk about the size of a dinner plate—in his right hand. As the girls watched, he sprang into action. Twisting his body, he turned in a full circle to gather momentum. “Argh!” he grunted. Then with a mighty heave, he flung the discus high and long. It flew half the length of the field! The other MOA boys had come over to cheer his attempt. “Way to go, Atlas!” Apollo called out. He punched his fist in the air. “That rocked!” called Ares. Artemis glared at them. Sure, they got all excited when a