Pandora of Athens 399 B.C (Life and Times)

Rating:
Summary: Lame--Just Lame
Review: I wanted to like this--we certainly need good historical fiction for kids, and there's little on Greece or Rome--but this is not what I would have liked.
I know this is series writing, but the author seems to have been writing it on remote.The writing style is flat and surprisingly amateurish, and the characters are not involving in the least.
Socrates seems dragged into the book as device, nothing more.

This may be suitable for kids needing historic fiction--but it will not get them interested in the period. I'd definitely recommend Caroline Lawrence's Roman mysteries over these--they bring their time setting vividly to life while telling a good story kids can ENJOY reading!



Rating:
Summary: Good but wished it were longer
Review: Pandora is thirteen-years-old and lives in 399 B.C. Athens, where life for women and their rights are mostly denied. Pandora deeply loathes the fact that she has no say in her life and that on her fourteenth birthday she will have to marry a man she deeply despises, her cousin, Menander, who also happens to be twice her age and very monotone. Her life takes a change though when she meets the Wise One while fetching water. Socrates is a very respected greek scholar and he tells her things that will profoundly change Pandora's life forever. Things seem possible now including marrying Phoenix, Socrates' young disciple, whom Pandora adores. However as Socrate's famed trial begins, Pandora finds herself mingled in the intrigue and politics of Ancient Greece and having to choose between her true love and the stability of someone she doesn't love. I enjoyed this first book in the new series Life and Times. Unfortunately the book should have been a tad longer because the ending came very quickly. It should have been more developed. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series as it comes out and I think readers who enjoy girl protagonist and ancient history will enjoy this book very much.



Rating:
Summary: Promising start to a new series.
Review: Thirteen-year-old Pandora, living in Athens in the year 399 B.C., resents that as a young girl of ancient Greece, she has no say at all in her future. She is already betrothed, to a man she despises, and who is more then twice her age -- her stupid, useless cousin Menander. And as soon as she turns fourteen, she will be forced to marry him. But one day while Pandora is fetching water, she meets the philosopher Socrates, and what he tells her changes her life forever. She is even more determined to determine the course of her own future when she meets his young disciple, Phoenix, whom she knows she would marry if only she had a choice. Now Pandora must choose between a secure but joyless future, and throwing away everything she has for a chance at happiness.

I enjoyed this look at life for a young teenage girl in ancient Athens, but I did feel it was a bit too short, in particular I would have liked to see a more developed ending as it was a bit abrupt. I'd still recommend this to readers who are interested in historical fiction set in the ancient world, and I look forward to reading more from this new series.