As the bards of ancient times sang tales of the Trojan War and of Odysseus’ homeward journey, so Tracy Barrett spins the tale again with her own imaginative twist. As the story opens, Odysseus’ son Telemachus, in typical teenage fashion, is spending his time spying on girls with his close friend, the centaur Brax. When a ship arrives in the harbor, its passengers come to the palace, overrun with noisy suitors, and shabby from years without a king. Soon the talk turns to the missing Odysseus, with whom one of the visitors sailed. After they have eaten and the unruly suitors are beginning their evening’s partying, the visitor tells Penelope and Telemachus that he hasn’t seen Odysseus for seven years. After Penelope leaves the hall, the gray-eyed sailor Mentes advises Telemachus to sail to Pylos and Sparta for further word of his father. Unsure of what to do, in desperation Telemachus turns to an ancient and unpredictable Titan living deep in a cave on the island. Her words are puzzling: “Return to the place that is not, on the day that is not, bearing the thing that is not. On that day the king will return.”
So Telemachus sets off in the company of Brax and a stowaway, Polydora, escaping from a difficult situation at home. The tale is full of gripping adventure, close calls and memorable characters, but it is, most of all, Telemachus’ coming of age story. He is at the center, foolish, wise, stubborn, crafty, and resilient, and in this odyssey, he is very much the hero. Barrett’s retelling is revisionist, and as such, she follows in the footsteps of the ancient tellers, who before the tale was finally written down, revised and remade the story each time it was repeated to a new audience. Like the bards of old, Barrett has written a fresh version of an old tale, one that will completely engage a new audience of young readers.
— Review by Barbara Scotto.
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