Goddess of Yesterday

As a small child Anaxandra is taken from the home she has always known, a tiny island off of Greece. She is a hostage and yet is raised in the palace of a king. But her story has just begun; time and again she finds herself at the center of conflict and bloodshed, then taken to a new home. In a time when all around her worship mighty Greek gods, Anaxandra clings to a small Medusa icon and the goddess she knew as a child, the goddess of yesterday. But will her old magic be strong enough to protect her when she finds herself in Troy, an enemy of Helen, on the eve of war?

This book relies very heavily on Greek myths,  epic tradition and tragedy. For those unfamiliar with these stories, Goddess of Yesterday may be more difficult to follow, as there are a vast number of characters, some of whom are mentioned only briefly because it is understood that the reader will know their significance. Caroline Cooney draws from The Illiad and The Odyssey among other works to create her tale. Goddess of Yesterday is probably best enjoyed by a teen audience, although other than being rather violent, there is nothing to make it inappropriate for strong readers in middle school.

Great for: Tying together all those Greek things you know.  I kept saying “oooh, so that’s how that fits together!”  This is also the kind of young adult book that grown-ups would enjoy.

Sex, Nudity, Dating –Anaxandra says she knows why the queen will not share a room with the king after five of her babies have died and again takes notice that Helen and Menelaus do not share a room. Anaxandra says that if a pirate had found her alive and a girl he would have done worse than kill her. Paris is seen entering the queen’s bedchamber. Paris kisses Helen. At 13 Anaxandra receives her first real kiss.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – This is a rather violent book. You can’t really write about the sacking of an island, the theft of Helen from Sparta and the Trojan War without having a bit of bloodshed. The common way of doing things at the time seemed to be a take no prisoners, leave no survivors type of approach, so in battles throughout the book, men and children are killed and women are raped before either being kept as slaves or concubines or murdered. A king has had five infant sons die and they are buried in the wall, which creeps Anaxandra out a little. There are plagues. Both animals and humans (including the famous Iphigenia in Aulis) are sacrificed throughout the book and there is often an accompanying graphic description.  A fleet is conquered and sailors killed and thrown to sea.  A boy is killed diving off a cliff. There is some gore in battle, including the death of a six year old boy.  Dead are gathered for a pyre. Birds feast on the dead. An illness in Sparta causes a raging fever followed by a burst stomach and death.  More children die (of illness, murdered, thrown from battlements). A man is stabbed in the stomach with a spear and his intestines fall out and are eaten by dogs. As the Trojan war begins the Greeks threaten to rape Trojan wives as the Trojans threaten to allow vultures to feast on the Greek dead and to spill the bowels of Greeks into the sea for the eels to eat. During the war, men are murdered and their armor stripped from them, arrows in the eyes of chariot drivers. The Trojans rally behind a cry that Menelaus is killing their infants.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None – I feel a bit hesitant about this, how could we get through an entire book with Kings feasting and toasting with no alcohol, and yet, I didn’t mark down any!
Frightening or Intense Things – Callisto is disabled, her feet are not flat.  People own slaves.  There is a slave market in Sparta.  The slaves are sometimes whipped. in Sidon slaves were branded. The war parts are pretty often graphic but not particularly tense.