Troy High by Shana Norris (reviewed by Vickie Wang)

Troy High by Shana Norris is a novel that retells the classic tale of Homer's Illiad to be a modern high school drama, complete with cheerleaders, football players, band geeks, the like. When former Spartan High cheerleader, Elena, falls in love with Troy High's football hunk Perry, it sparks a rivalry of practical jokes and pranks that get more and more out of hand... And poor Cassie, Perry's little band major sister, is stuck in the middle of it, having to choose between loyalty to her school and the her best friend, and love of her life, who is a Spartan.

I personally did not like the novel that much. The characters were kind of FORCED into being their Illiad counterparts. For example, Perry was supposed to be like Paris from the Illiad in the aspect that both were very vain and did not want to be forced into battle; however, Perry not wanting to go play football is not like Paris not wanting to go to war. The book just seemed to water down the excitement of the Illiad. However, the author did a really good job making parallel characters; I just wish the Troy High characters also had some more personality of their own as well.

Troy High seemed to downplay the drama of the Illiad to make it fit into a novel that high schoolers could relate to. I really liked the idea of modernizing the Illiad. I just wish that Norris did so in a way with a twist so that it was both relateable but not completely predictable for those who know the Illiad (such as adding a flaw to the hero, or getting into the head of Helen/Elena).

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Vickie reviewed an ADVANCE READER'S COPY (ARC) of this book, meaning she got a chance to read it before it was published and she had a chance to let the library know if it she thought we should purchase it for our shelves or not.

Do YOU want a chance to read and review books before they're published? Do YOU think you could give your opinion on if the library/other people should buy these books? If so, you can ask at youth services or send us an e-mail for more information on how you can get a chance to be an advance reviewer.

Extra big thanks to Vickie for her great review and her hard work being one of our advance reviewers!