Saturday, November 28, 2009

Troy High by Shana Norris

Genre: YA Fiction

Publication Date: August 2009

Author Website: www.shananorris.com

One Word Review: Fun

First Line: “It was a late Sunday afternoon when I kissed my best friend.”

Synopsis: “Narrated by Cassie, a shy outsider who fears that an epic high school rivalry is about to go up in flames, the story follows the Trojans and Spartans as they declare war on the football field. After the beautiful Elena—who used to be the captain of the Spartan cheerleaders—transfers to Troy High and falls madly in love with Cassie’s brother Perry, the Spartans vow that the annual homecoming game will never be forgotten. The Trojans and Spartans pull wicked pranks on each other as homecoming approaches. And the Spartans’ wildcard football star, Ackley, promises to take down the Trojans’ offensive line. But the stakes are raised when Cassie is forced to choose between the boy she loves (a Spartan) and loyalty to her family and school.” -GoodReads

Kathy’s Review: I really enjoyed this one! It’s a great retelling of Homer’s Iliad. Cassie is a likable character. I think she suffers from “brothers-shadow”. She has two popular older brothers and thinks the cool genes ran out by time she came along (I can relate to that, having three amazing older brothers myself). Since her brothers are so popular she never really tries to fit in at her school Troy High (Trojans). Her best friend goes to Lacede High (Spartans) and she seems to get along pretty well with people at that school, at least at the beginning. So, I’m thinking her “uncoolness” is really all in her head.

Anyway, I digress. Cassie is all about keeping the peace while maintaining her friendships. She is surprised when cute girl Elena befriends her and really wants to keep that friendship going even when it means risking her friendship with her Spartans friends. The pranks are pretty funny, all the encounters between the Spartans and Trojans were also entertaining and of course the chemistry with Cassie and Greg was fun to watch as well. I really enjoyed the book and how everything ended up. A great read for anyone who likes retellings mixed with a little high school fun.

4 comments:

  1. This sounds like a fun read. :D Great review. Though as a Brit I know nothing about American football so the whole Homecoming thing goes straight over my head. hehe.

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  2. This sounds like a fun read. Not sure it is really my kind of thing but I bet if I read it, I'd enjoy it.

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  3. That sounds like a cool book. I'll have to add it to my list. I love modern retellings of classics.

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  4. I liked the play on names more than the book itself.

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