Hi y’all!

Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful Christmas season! So grateful for this time of year to remember what matters most in life and celebrate with my little family.

Today I am excited to share my review of The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt. This is an absolutely fantastic middle grade novel combining real life with Greek mythology. I loved the clever story and the beautifully crafted journey through grief, strength and hope.

This was another fantastic recommendation from the Read Aloud Revival. She always gives the best recommendations.

Book Summary: “From award-winning author Gary D. Schmidt, a warm and witty novel in the tradition of The Wednesday Wars, in which a seventh grader has to figure out how to fulfill an assignment to perform the Twelve Labors of Hercules in real life—and makes discoveries about friendship, community, and himself along the way. Herc Beal knows who he’s named after—a mythical hero—but he’s no superhero. He’s the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school gives him the assignment of duplicating the mythical Hercules’s amazing feats in real life, he’s skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod—and not a single Hydra in sight. Missing his parents terribly and wishing his older brother wasn’t working all the time, Herc figures out how to take his first steps along the road that the great Hercules himself once walked. Soon, new friends, human and animal, are helping him. And though his mythical role model performed his twelve labors by himself, Herc begins to see that he may not have to go it alone.”

The Greek mythology is fantastic and cleverly woven into the story throughout the novel. My knowledge of Hercules and his 12 labors is limited to my public education and what I’ve read by Rick Riordan (and that is more a general Greek mythology knowledge than Hercules specific). So I found the descriptions of the different labors and how both Hercules complete their tasks so interesting. Some tasks seem truly impossible to complete while others are surprising in how they are finished. I enjoyed the nuanced differences between the two sets of labors. Hercules Beal makes connections and gets help along the way. That changes the outcomes of some of the labors which I found really satisfying and clever. Such a fun way to connect mythology to modern life!

The characters in this novel are well developed and change in compelling ways through the story. Hercules is a fantastic protagonist. I appreciated his journey through the story. We learn early that he lost both his parents in a car accident and he watches the sunrise daily to say good morning to them (probably my favorite scenes in the whole book!). His relationship with his brother is strained and he doesn’t have a lot of friends expect his long time best friend who lives close by. And then the labors start. We have his teacher who seems brilliant and complex in his own ways. The other students in Herc’s class have more sides to them than you might expect. And even Herc’s brother is weighed down by more than he realizes and they are able to understand each other better as the story continues.

Perhaps the most compelling part of this story is the way Schmidt weaves difficult emotions beside hopeful ones and gives us happiness and joy amidst times of sorrow and grief. Hercules has been through a lot and he is only starting middle school. Losing a parent is hard at any age. And the intensity of that grief is acknowledged in this story. Schmidt beautifully relates the struggles of such a tragic experience while also highlighting moments of joy. I appreciated that he doesn’t shy away from the tough questions and tough emotions of such situations. He allows those to color the experiences of his characters but not to overwhelm them completely. The balance between happiness and sorrow, hope and grief was very well done.

Overall, a truly fantastic novel! I loved the Greek mythology, characters, and beautiful prose. This is my first Gary D. Schmidt novel but it won’t be my last!

What are your favorite middle grade novels?
Favorite Greek Mythology inspired novels?