As PERSEPHONE 's mom encourages her to do, she often "goes along to get along" instead of doing what she really wants. But when she meets Mount Olympus Academy bad-boy Hades, she finally feels she has found someone with whom she can be herself. He's the first person who actually listens to her, and she finds herself liking him, despite the fact that the other goddessgirls think he's bad news. But if he makes her feel so special -- and she's so comfortable hanging around him -- can he really be all that bad? Authors Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams put a modern spin on classic myths with the Goddess Girls series. Follow the ins and outs of divine social life at Mount Olympus Academy, where the most privileged godboys and goddessgirls in the Greek pantheon hone their mythical skills. On top of Mount Olympus, the authors intertwine an enchanting mythological world with middle-school woes compounded by life as a deity or blessed mortal. The books should be popular with fans of girly, light fantasy. -- School Library Journal Joan Holub is the author of over 125 books for young readers, including Groundhog Weather School, Vincent van Gogh Sunflowers and Swirly Stars, Zero the Hero, Who Was Marco Polo?, Bed Bats & Beyond, and the Doll Hospital chapter book series. Of the four goddessgirls, she's probably most like Athena because she loves to brainstorm new ideas for books. But she's very glad her dad was never the principal of her school! Visit her at joanholub.com Suzanne Williams is the author of over 30 books for young readers, including Library Lil, Mommy Doesn't Know My Name, My Dog Never Says Please, and the Princess Power and Fairy Blossoms series. Her husband says she's the Goddess of Annoying Questions. (Most having to do with why her computer misbehaves.) That makes her kind of like Pandora except that Pandora never had to deal with computers. Suzanne lives near Seattle in Washington state. Visit her at suzanne-williams.com Persephone the Phony 1 The Immortal Marketplace A LYREBELL PINGED, SIGNALING THE end of another Monday at Mount Olympus Academy. Persephone crammed the textscroll she’d been reading into her scrollbag and got up to leave the library. As she joined the throng of godboys and goddessgirls streaming into the hallway, a herald appeared on the balcony above them. “The twenty-third day of the school year is now at an end,” he announced in a loud, important voice. Then he struck his lyrebell again with a little hammer. A brown-haired goddessgirl carrying so many scrolls she could barely see over the top of them fell into step beside Persephone. “Ye gods. That means one hundred seventeen days to go!” “Hi, Athena.” Persephone pointed to the pile of scrolls. “Some light reading?” she joked. “Research,” said Athena. She was the brainiest of Persephone’s friends, and also the youngest, though they were all in the same grade. The two goddessgirls continued past a golden fountain. Persephone’s eyes flickered over a painting on the wall beyond it, showing Helios, the sun god, mounting to the sky in his horse-drawn carriage. The academy was filled with paintings celebrating the exploits of the gods and goddesses. They were so inspiring! “Hey, you guys, wait up!” called a goddessgirl in a pale blue chiton—the flowing gown that was all the rage among goddesses and mortal Greek women right now. Aphrodite, the most gorgeous of Persephone’s friends, raced toward the two girls across gleaming marble tiles. Her long golden hair, held in place by seashell clips, streamed behind her as she dodged past a godboy who was part goat. He bleated, but when he saw who it was, he stared after her with an admiring, doe-eyed look. “I’m going to the Immortal Marketplace this afternoon,” Aphrodite said breathlessly. “Artemis was supposed to go with me, but she’s got archery practice. Want to come?” Athena sagged under her load of scrolls. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve got so much work to do.” “It can wait,” said Aphrodite. “Don’t you want to go shopping?” “Well,” said Athena, “I could use some new knitting supplies.” Athena was always knitting something. Her last project was a striped woolen cap. She’d made it for Mr. Cyclops, the Hero-ology teacher, to cover his bald head. “You’ll come too, right, Persephone?” Aphrodite asked. Persephone hesitated. She didn’t really want to go to the mall, but she was afraid of hurting Aphrodite’s feelings. Too bad she didn’t have a good excuse like Artemis. But except for cheering with the Goddess Squad, Persephone wasn’t much into sports. “I . . . uh . . . I’d love to go,” she said at last. Her mom would have been proud. She was always telling Persephone to be polite and “go along to get along.” “Let’s stop by my room first,” said Aphrodite. “I need to change.” Aphrodite was obsessed with clothes and had a different outfit for almost every activity, often changing five or six times a day. The student dorms were upstairs: girls on the fo