Styx and Stones

Previous collaborators Schmidt and Koertge (A Day at the Beach) present an introspective story of unlikely connection across an action-adventure plot with Percy Jackson appeal. After spending 2,451 years in the underworld, 12-year-old Simon of Lacedaemon, who died trying to defend his village from the Spartans, finally escapes. He emerges from a portal in present-day St. Paul, Minn., and finds himself in the seventh grade boys’ bathroom of St. Nikolaos Academy, where he meets meek-mannered social outcast Zeke Tripps. As the two become fast friends, Zeke offers to take temporally displaced Simon home with him. Masquerading as Zeke’s cousin from Las Vegas, Simon tries to adjust to modernity, even as memories of his previous mortal life continue to haunt him. Back in the underworld, news of his escape rocks the kingdom, prompting its rulers to dispatch a demonic bounty hunter to bring him back. The running theme of Simon’s kindness affecting and improving the lives of those around him, both in the underworld and on Earth, gives the novel an emotionally rich undercurrent, while parallel character arcs—including Simon’s contending with past trauma, Zeke’s managing deep-set loneliness, and others—emphasize warm messaging that highlights myriad paths toward healing. Main characters cue as white. Ages 8–12. (May)