37. The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds

THE ODYSSEY by Gareth Hinds (Candlewick Press, 2010)

GENRE: Graphic Novel / Folktale

HONORS: School Library Journal Battle of the Kids’ Books Nominee

REVIEW:

In this graphic novel adaptation of Homer’s epic poem, King Odysseus begins his journey home to Ithaca with his men after winning the Trojan War.  Along the way, his crew battles storms, supernatural beings, and the man-eating, larger than life Cyclops.  However, when Odysseus’s crew angers the gods, their ship is hit with a tremendous storm and split apart by lightning.  Grabbing onto a piece of the ship, Odysseus drifts for nine days until he finds himself on the shores of Ogygia where the nymph Calypso keeps him for seven years.  Then released by order of Zeus, Odysseus finally reaches Ithaca to discover that suitors have taken up residence in his home, all wanting to marry his wife and become Ithaca’s new king.  Disguising himself, Odysseus devises a plan with his son, Telemachus, to seize back his kingdom.

OPINION:

This graphic novel gives a fresh spin on Homer’s epic poem, allowing the story to be told through images and some text when necessary.  The art works wonderfully to evoke the tone of the scene, especially through characters’ facial expressions and close-ups.  This technique works to give the reader a glimpse into characters’ minds, eliminating the need for text in many instances.  The story is nonlinear which could prove difficult for some tweens that have not heard about Homer’s poem before reading this, but it should not be a problem for those that understand the plot.  Also, there is a lot of violence in the graphic novel, but the gore is kept to a minimum until the battle scene between Odysseus and the suitors.  Nevertheless, the numerous adventures that Odysseus embarks on and the dangerous situations he gets himself into will especially appeal to tween boy reluctant readers—and a good amount of them won’t mind the violence, either.  By adapting the epic poem into a graphic novel, it makes the material much more engaging for tweens that look unfavorably upon the original.

IDEAS:

This would be a great graphic novel to include in a library display about mythology and folklore.  It could also be used to inspire a library program for tweens to create their own graphic novels based on other classic works.