Goddess of Yesterday

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Summary: "The Goddess of Yesterday"
Review: "Goddess of Yesterday" is clearly one of the best books ever written. The way the author perceived Helen was how I imagined her to be. This appealed to me greatly, because none of the other Greek mythology that I had read put Helen into perspective as a vain person. They all gave you the impression that Helen's heart was as beautiful as her face.(Not to critisize, I loved some of those books)Seeing the story from Anaxandra's point of view is wonderfully enlightening. She has a truly original voice.
"Goddess of Yesterday" was still as perfect, and thrilling after my twentieth time reading it. It deserves five stars, and wonderful reviews.

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Summary: Characterizations and detail to setting are wonderful
Review: A whole new view of Helen of Troy, the woman whose face launched a thousand ships, is delivered through the eyes of Anaxandra, a sailor's daughter masquerading as a princess after being captured by invaders. Not just a pretty face, Helen is a shrewd and poisonous viper, suspicious of the new girl in her home. Anaxandra/Calisto comes to love her new home and makes quick friends, but trying to stay one jump ahead of the lovely yet black-hearted adulteress queen is exhausting. Will her impostering secret be discovered? And if so, how will she fare?
Cooney offers an exciting and rich tale of love and war amid the backdrop of ancient Greece. Historical detail immerses the reader into the story, and insight into customs and religion makes this a strong choice for school curriculums. Several Greek myths are retold throughout the story from Anaxandra posing as Medusa to Zeus's many conquests. Characterizations are excellent. May have a limited audience of Caroline Cooney fans and Greek mythology buffs, pair with McLaren's Inside the Walls of Troy (Atheneum, 1996) and Adele Geras's earthier Troy (Harcourt 2001) for discussion.

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Summary: Sing, Goddess, Sing . . .
Review: An excellent and exciting view on the Trojan war.

To the reader that said 'things just don't happen' in the sense that it was inaccurate for Hector and Andromache to be married at fifteen, that is an ignorant statement. Because life expectancy was very short in the ancient world, many girls were married at thirteen or even twelve.

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Summary: Wonderful novel that brings the Trojan War to life.
Review: Anaxandra is the only daughter of the chieftain of a small, unnamed island in the Aegean Sea. When she is just six years old, she is taken as a hostage by Nicander, king of Siphnos. She ends up being companion and friend to his crippled daughter Callisto. Six years later, Siphnos is raided by pirates, and Anaxandra is the only survivor. When Menelaus, king of Sparta, stops his fleet of ships at Siphnos to investigate, Anaxandra lies to save herself. She takes on the identity of the dead princess Callisto. Menelaus takes her home with him to his palace, where she befriends his children, in particular his daughter Hermoine and his baby son Pleis. But she is also terrified by his wife Helen, who knows the truth, that Anaxandra is not Callisto. When Helen runs off with her lover, Prince Paris of Troy, and determines to bring her two younger children along, Anaxandra disguises herself and goes in Hermoine's place, to save her friend, and protect Pleis. She manages to get herself and the baby safely to Troy -- where a great war is about to begin, and they are in more danger then ever before. I absolutely loved this book, and I highly recommend it book to young adult readers with an interest in the Trojan War, or Greek mythology in general. Anaxandra is a wonderful character, and her narrative brings the world of Ancient Greece and Troy to life.

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Summary: Troy and Sparta from a young girl's point of view
Review: Anaxandra, the female heroine of the story, tells from her point of view about the clash between the Trojans and the Spartans, when Paris of Troy went to Sparta and kidnapped King Menelaus' beautiful wife Helen. Anaxandra, who was pretending to be a princess from another city, was there to witness this, and then, disguised as Helen's daughter, returned with the kidnappers in their ships to Troy, in order to protect Helen's baby son. But Helen, who had been willingly kidnapped, hated Anaxandra, and when she discovered that Anaxandra had sneaked along, punished her by having her head shaved.

Anaxandra is a wonderful heroine. Though she lies about her identity, she is just trying to keep herself and the little prince Pleis alive. This is not a soft and fluffy girls story, rather, Anaxandra witnesses some bloody horrors of war, is constantly in danger, is treated unkindly, and ultimately attempts to rescue Pleis from being murdered, and to escape from Troy.

Her other adventures include danger from a storm at sea, falling in love with a foreign king, meeting up with the strange prophetess girl Cassandra, who is locked up in the king's tower, and disguising herself like a boy in the marketplace. Her "goddess of yesterday" is the goddess she prays to, and on whom she relies to get her out of her troubles.

I appreciate the author's afterword, in which she explains which details of the book came from the stories passed down by the ancient writers, and which parts she made up. She also explains that it is not known if the story of Helen and Paris is fact or myth, but that if it did really happen, it would have been about 1250 B.C. This is a great book for young readers/teens who love Greek mythology, or who are just being introduced to it.

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Summary: Brilliant and compelling recreation of Troy
Review: Caroline Cooney could make me enjoy her version of a phone book but I particularly applaud this cleverly written novel of ancient Troy. She has created a heroine with personality and courage, and has vividly depicted characters such as Helen, Paris and Menelaus. Highly recommended.

Other Cooney favorites are The Party's Over and the Janie books.

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Summary: I hope there will be a sequel!
Review: Goddess of Yesterday is a great novel telling the story of the Trojan War in a way that teens and pre-teens can enjoy. I am really into Greek mythology, so I loved this book. It did seem to drag on for quite a while before Anaxandra actually sets foot in Troy, so I think this book would be most enjoyed either by fans of Caroline B. Cooney's work, and/or fans of Greek mythology/history.
While the novel ends well, and could very well conclude Anaxandra's story, there are possibilities that Ms. Cooney could continue writing about; does Anaxandra ever see her parents again? What happens when she gets to Lemnos? I really hope Caroline B. Cooney continues the story of such a great heroine.

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Summary: Am I the only one?
Review: How can any respectable person like this book? The inaccuracies are numerous and laughable. The author giving Helen four children is sickening. In all respectable versions of this story Helen has one daughter - Hermione. The author said she followed the Iliad. I seriously disagree!

Also, nothing goods happens to Anaxandra! It's one horrible event after another until you just can't stand it anymore. The author plays with the characters and makes it a depressing story. Granted the Trojan war isn't a happy story, but still!

And how she slaughters the characters Andromache and Hector! She describes Hector as ugly and huge. In every version I've read Hector is a handsome, tall man, not what Caroline B. Cooney describes. And Andromache and Hector are married before the war begins, not just betrothed! How can she make Andromache fifteen? I'm sorry, things just don't work that way.

You want some advice? Don't read this book if you have the least little bit of respect for Greek mythology. And if you want something happy to read, well, forget Goddess of Yesterday.

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Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: I am an avid reader of Greek Mythology and I really enjoyed this book for its different perspective about Helen of Troy.
Anaxandra is six years old when she is taken from her small island home by King Nicander to be a friend to Callisto, King Nicander's sickly daughter on the island of Siphnos. There Anaxandra dwells for six years. When she is tweleve her island is raided by pirates and every one on the island besides her is killed or taken captive.
When King Menelaus of Sparta comes to the island to investigate, Anaxandra assumes the identity of Callisto (who is presumed dead) so that the King will take her to Sparta with him.
But Queen Helen, Menelaus's dangerously beautiful but cruel and self-absorbed wife, does not believe that red haired Anaxandra is dark haired Callisto and seeks to be rid of Anaxandra.
When handsome Paris comes to carry Helen off, Anaxandra poses as Helen's daughter so she will be able to go to Troy with them and take care of Helen's only son. She must use all her wits to survive in Troy with Helen and Paris seeking to rid themselves of the only heir to the throne of Sparta and the young Anaxandra taking care of him.
I really enjoyed this book because it is such a great retelling of the "kidnapping" of Helen from a young girl's perspective.
Caroline B. Cooney does a great job of rendering the personalities of both Helen and Paris and it makes a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Goddess of Yesterday
Review: I honestly didn't think that this book was something to get very excited about. The plot was very slow moving and I noticed that the author puts in details that we don't really need to know. In my opinion, Caroline B. Cooney didn't do a really good job of keeping the reader's attention. I also didn't like how horrible things continued to happen to the main character, Anaxandra, forcing her to lie and cheat in order to survive.
Despite all these things, I gave the book three stars out of five because I liked finding out how the Ancient Greeks lived and about the gods that they worshiped. When I read about what was actually true in the book, I thought that it was really clever of Caroline B. Cooney to be able to work all these facts into the book. I wouldn't exactly recommend it to anybody who wants everything in the book to be true, it is an historical fiction book after all. I would probably recommend it to someone like me who doesn't know that much about Greek history and is simply looking for an interesting book to read.