Quiver - Stephanie Spinner
The Greek myth of Atalanta turned into a novel.
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Book details
- Author:Stephanie Spinner
- # of pages: 177
- Publisher:Alfred A. Knopf
- Original Publication Date: 11/06/2005
- Genre: Fiction - Folklore
- Paperback: $5.99
- Publisher's Recommended Reading Level: 9-12
- Read Aloud: 11
- Read Alone: 11
Parents need to know
Parents need to know that there are clear sexual references here, a bit unusual for a book aimed at this age group, though hard to avoid in Greek mythology. There's also some violence (Atalanta kills two centaurs with a bow and arrows, shoots a boar, and forces those who lose races with her to die. A queen hangs herself). The book has a somewhat casual attitude toward death, also typical in myth.
Families can talk about Atalanta's dilemma (she vows to stay chaste, yet is forced to marry) and how it could be solved without resorting to killing the suitors. Also, families may want to examine Atalanta's character: How is she unusual? Why does she feel she has to be better than the men in doing typically male tasks, like hunting? Parents can also discuss the Greek attitude toward death, exemplified in the practice of exposing newborns.
Families can talk about Atalanta's dilemma (she vows to stay chaste, yet is forced to marry) and how it could be solved without resorting to killing the suitors. Also, families may want to examine Atalanta's character: How is she unusual? Why does she feel she has to be better than the men in doing typically male tasks, like hunting? Parents can also discuss the Greek attitude toward death, exemplified in the practice of exposing newborns.
Message
Social Behavior:
Atlanta is a strong young woman.
Consumerism:
Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:
Atalanta and others drink wine.
Violence
References to centaurs raping women. Atalanta kills two centaurs with a bow and arrows, shoots a boar, and forces those who lose races with her to die. A queen hangs herself.
Sex
Reference to an "elixir of convulsive lust," a mention of pubic hair, Hippomenes and Atalanta have sex, not described but clearly referred to (they "lay entwined," etc.)
Language
Common Sense says
What's the story?
Reviewed by Kate Pavao
Atalanta is abandoned as an infant, and the goddess Artemis causes her to be raised by bears. She is then taken in by a village and becomes a great runner and huntress. She takes part in the Calydonian boar hunt, causing the death of several of the huntsmen who argue over her presence there. Upon her return she is summoned by her father, who turns out to be a king, and ordered to marry, even though she is an acolyte of Artemis, pledged to chastity. She agrees to marry whoever can beat her in a race -- but if she wins the man must die.
Is it any good?
This is a straightforward retelling of the Atalanta myth in novel form. Though it lacks the humor and cleverness of author Stephanie Spinner's other novelized myth, Quicksilver,, Atalanta was never as witty and snarky as Hermes, so the tone fits the subject. This retelling is, however, enjoyable and action-packed, hewing closely to the original stories (and even including an obscure episode that comes after the traditional ending of the myth), making it useful for classes studying mythology.
What humor there is is provided in the arch commentary of the gods and goddesses that appears from time to time. Spinner also resolves one of the more troubling aspects of the original myth -- that Hippomenes seems to win the race by cheating: in this version, Atalanta clearly knows what he is doing.
From the Book:
An all-consuming lightness, like heatless fever, came over me. My skin prickled as if a storm were coming, and my hearing grew so acute that I imagined that I could hear the slow lap and surge of blood under my skin. I knew the signs; I had known them since girlhood.
The goddess, I thought. She is here.
Other choices
Other Books by Stephanie Spinner
Quicksilver
Aliens for Breakfast series
Weebie Zone series
More Novelized Myths
Singer to the Sea God by Vivien Alcock
The Arkadians by Lloyd Alexander
Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline B. Cooney
The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
The Young Heroes series by Jane Yolen
The Great God Pan by Donna Jo Napoli
Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne
Related Websites
Stephanie's page at Random House
Parents and kids say
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