The Plaid Pladd

This is actually the first book in the Goddess Girls series!! I assumed maybe it would clear up some of the confusion I’ve had during the other volumes, but alas. Still no explanation for Athena’s mom being a fly.

I'm super sad that Poseidon doesn't have turquoise skin on the cover

Summary of Amazingness
By Patricia
Athena gets a letter revealing that Zeus is her dad!! And inviting her to attend prestigious Mt. Olympus Academy! So she says goodbye to her beloved foster sister Pallas and heads off for intellectual adventure! Of course she’s nervous and confused; why are the classes on such weird topics? Why is Medusa such a mean girl? Why is her mom a fly? But she quickly makes friends with the other main Goddess Girl characters, tries out for the cheerleading squad, and decides to invent something cool for mortals to win the invention fair. Medusa STEALS one of the inventions, a shampoo, and ends up with snake hair that can turn mortals to stone. Luckily Athena tricks her into using it on herself. She accidentally wins the invention fair with her amazing olives, and wins as her prize the chance to invite her friend Pallas for the weekend! Yay bffs!! Bffs we never hear about again.

Faithfulness to Original Mythos
By Steven
First things first, why is Pallas some mortal girlfriend of Athena’s? Pallas (as a contemporary of Athena) in the mythology almost always refers to the Gigante (or giant) Pallas, or Pallas son of Lycaon who was one of her early teachers. The former she imprisoned underground and the latter she accidentally killed, so either way I can see why they’d avoid the subject, but why introduce a spurious character altogether? And anyway, Pallas is usually a cognomen of Athena, as in Pallas Athena or just Pallas for short. Points for Odysseus and the Trojan Horse, and I like their version of how Medusa got her snaky hair (hint: Athena was involved, yes, and so was Medusa’s crush on Poseidon, but the reason was a lot sexier than an accidental shampoo mixup), but points off again for their Metis-as-fly idea. Sure, Metis was tricked into her fly shape and swallowed by Zeus, but she is not, intrinsically, a fly. Nor were they, after that event, on particularly good terms. And then there’s the whole born-fully-grown-and-clothed-in-armor-of-bronze bit missing… All in all, four stars for fun, two stars for accuracy. Not the worst start, really.

When Steven writes a book series for tween girls, you can bet this is the first thing that's going down

Tween Girl Life Lessons
By Patricia
1) BFF 4 LYFE! Or at least for the first book in the series
2) You shouldn’t crush on a boy who thinks he’s smarter than you when you are clears the Goddess of Wisdom–what a douche
3) Girls can do science!!
4) When disasters happen to mean people, it’s okay not to save them

Steven’s Favorites!
Character: Medusa, hands down. Her bitchiness is only equaled by her snark. Good combination.
Part: The magical brainstorm and its ensuing rain of ships!
Thing I Learned: Trident gum was named by Poseidon so that none of us would ever forget it’s called a Trident, not a pitchfork.

Patricia’s Favorites!!
Character: Poseidon! His invention is a water park, you guys! And he has turquoise skin!
Part: Medusa and her sisters taunt Athena with this inventive chant: “Give me an F! Give me an L! Give me a Y! What’s that spell? Athena’s mom!”
Thing I Learned: At MOA, all trophies are painstakingly carved from stone by Zeus, so the school trophy case must look like a collection created out of Playdoh by a preschooler with giant, awkward hands.

Previously: Aphrodite the Diva
Next:: Persephone the Phony

Or, if you want to read them in book order Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Book 6