cover image Morning of the Gods

Morning of the Gods

Edward Fenton. Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers, $14.95 (184pp) ISBN 978-0-385-29550-5

To help recover from her mother's sudden death, Carla, 12, leaves New York for Greece, where she will stay with her great-aunt and -uncle. It is 1974, and Greeks are chafing under military rule, a fact of life that radicalizes Carla. Soon she befriends Lefteris, a boy whose family has been forced outside the country, and joins him in small but risky acts of civil defiance. Though somewhat flawed by coincidence, this nicely rounded story is based on Fenton's firsthand knowledge of Greek mythology, history, landscape and village cultures. Carla's devoted relatives, Tiggie and Theo, are traditional Greeks, yet rebellious, and are drawn with subtlety and depth. Knowing them changes Carla's life forever. Ages 10-14. (June)