1	"A Book Project By Tess..." A Book Project By Tess M. December 5, 2005
2	The Assignment This semester I had many responsibilities as a library aide of Benold Middle School. One of the most important tasks that I accomplished was my book project on mythology. I was asked to pick a topic of books, look them up in the O.P.A.C., find them on the shelves, and display them for others. I chose the topic of mythology because of my personal interest in legends and myths. First, I looked for books by doing a subject search in the O.P.A.C.. I found several different types of mythology – Egyptian, Roman, Greek, and Chinese. I found thirteen fictional books and thirteen non-fictional books on this subject. After I added all of these books to my book bag on the O.P.A.C., I was able to print the list and find the books on the shelves. Once I had collected all of the books, I put them on display for others to see. I also made a decorative sign displaying the topic of my book display. I hope that my display resulted in people checking out books that probably wouldn’t have been checked out if they were just on the shelves. I found the subject of mythology interesting, and I hope that others did too.
3	Fiction Book Review I have written a review of one of the fictional books that I put on display. Goddess of Yesterday, written by Caroline B. Cooney, is only one example of a fictional book that has a mythological theme. Goddess of Yesterday On a small island in the Aegean Sea, Anaxandra lives with her father who is the chieftain in this area. King Nicander, who lives on the island of Siphnos, needs a companion for his daughter, Princess Callisto. Anaxandra is chosen to live with the King and Princess when she is only six years old. Everything is going fine for Anaxandra and her new family until tragedy strikes. Pirates come and destroy the island of Siphnos, and Anaxandra is the only person who makes it out alive. Scared and alone, Anaxandra must lie to the King of Sparta, Menelaus, when he arrives with his big ships in order to live. She says that she is Princess Callisto, and he takes her back to Sparta with him. Unfortunately, Menelaus’s wife, Helen, can see that Anaxandra is lying. Helen is half-mortal and half-goddess. Anaxandra fears that Helen has the power to harm or even kill, and she is afraid for her own life. Soon, the Trojan princess, Paris, and Aeneas arrive. As soon as Menelaus leaves to go to his grandfather’s funeral, trouble starts brewing between Princess Paris and Helen. These affairs eventually lead to a war between Sparta and Troy. It will take a large amount of courage from Anaxandra to face the tasks ahead of her. Do you want to know what happens to Anaxandra? Read Goddess of Yesterday to find out!
4	Nonfiction Review I have also written a review of one of the non-fictional books that I put on display. The non-fictional book, Thunder of the Gods, by Dorothy Hosford, is only one of the several non-fictional books I put on display. Thunder of the Gods This book describes some of the gods and legends in several different periods of mythology. It describes the form of punishment the gods would administer for different crimes in some of the Norse myths and other myths. All of the heroes and villains in this novel have detailed descriptions, and there is a key to correct pronunciation of proper names in the back. This would be a good book to read if you enjoy action and suspense, or if you simply enjoy discovering the reasoning behind timeless legends. Whether you believe in myths or not, this book is definitely a “page turner!”
5	List of Books I have listed 3 books of each category, fiction and non-fiction, to give an idea of the types of books I put on my Mythology display. I have also included the bibliographical information. Non-Fiction~ Graves, Robert. Greek gods and heroes. Laurel Leaf ed. New York : Dell, 1984, c1960. Homer. The Odyssey : the story of the Odysseus. New York : New American Library, c1937. Patrick, Richard. All color book of Egyptian mythology. London : Octopus Books, c1974. Fiction~ Christensen, James, 1942-. Voyage of the Bassett. Shelton, Conn. : New York : Greenwich Workshop ; Artisan, 1996. Kindl, Patrice. Lost in the labyrinth : a novel. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Yolen, Jane. Atalanta and the Arcadian beast. 1^st ed. New York : HarperCollins, c2003.