Medusa hopes immortality will put an end to her mean girl status—but her plan for popularity is unfavorably flawed. All Medusa wants is to be more like her two sisters and the other kids in her class: immortal. As the only mortal at Mount Olympus Academy, Medusa is sick and tired of being surrounded by beautiful, powerful, immortal classmates. It isn’t easy making friends, especially when you have snakes for hair and a reputation for being mean. Immortality, she thinks, will solve everything. So when Medusa finds out about a necklace that promises just that, she’s sure it will help her get the two things she covets most: to be as popular as the four Goddess Girls, and to have her supercrush, Poseidon, finally notice her. But when the necklace brings about popularity in the totally wrong way, things go from bad to worse. Can Medusa overcome her “meanie” status and prove that there’s more to her that meets the eye? 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. Medusa The Mean 1 Seven Years Later FROM HER SEAT HIGH AT THE BACK OF THE stone bleachers in the outdoor amphitheater at Mount Olympus Academy, thirteen-year-old Medusa stared in fascination at a full-page ad in her new Teen Scrollazine. It showed a picture of a sparkly necklace with a goldenwinged white horse charm dangling from its chain. Her pale green eyes eagerly devoured the sales pitch: ATTENTION MORTALS: DO YOU DREAM OF BEING A GOD OR A GODDESS? NOW YOU CAN BE WITH THE AMAZING NEW Immortalizer! JUST CLASP THE NECKLACE AROUND YOUR NECK, AND INSTANTLY ENJOY YOUR NEW POWERS! THE PRICE? ONLY 30 DRACHMAS! At the bottom of the page was an order form. Becoming immortal had been Medusa’s dearest wish since—well, since forever. It wasn’t fair that her two sisters were immortal while she’d been born a mere mortal. She studied the ad again. She wanted to believe it, but did she dare trust its claims? What if it was a trick? Could a flying-horse necklace really be the key to immortality? “Doubt it!” she muttered aloud. A godboy sitting nearby overheard and gave her a sideways glance. She shot him a quick glare that widened his eyes and made him nervously look away. It was Friday, last period, and the amphitheater was filled with immortal students—all of them beautiful, powerful, and awesome, with softly glittering skin. How she longed to be like them! Sure, she went to MOA too. She was one of the few lucky mortals allowed to attend the Academy. Yet she had no true magical powers, like those of a goddess. Still, with a glance she could turn a mortal to stone. That was something, at least. And she was the only student with snakes instead of hair growing from the top of her head! Glancing around, she idly reached up and twirled one of the snakes around her finger. Usually school dramas were performed in the amphitheater, but today the entire student body had gathered here because of Career-ology Week. (Or Job-ology Week, as the students called it.) All week long various speakers had come to MOA to talk about their jobs. Yesterday the god Hermes had told them all about his chariot delivery service. Today the goddess Hera was here speaking about her wedding shop in the Immortal Marketplace. The regallooking goddess had thick blond hair styled high upon her head and a no-nonsense look in her eye. Although she wasn’t unusually tall, something about her made her seem statuesque. Probably her confidence. As Hera explained how she went about planning a wedding at Hera’s Happy Endings, Medusa only half-listened. She shifted behind some other MOA students sitting in front of her, so she was better hidden from Hera’s view. Sneakily she re-read the ad. It was maddeningly short on details about how the Immortalizer worked—if it worked at all. She’d almost be willing to risk disappointment if only it didn’t cost so much. Thirty drachmas was a lot of money! Her weekly allowance was just three obeloi, which was half a drachma. At the moment she only had eight drachmas saved up. “Any questions?” Hera asked the crowd. Medusa jolted to attention and peered around the godboy in front of her. Seeing that the talk was nearly over, she set her scrollazine on the bench. Although the bleachers were packed with students, there