Two children’s fates entwine in a novel set in Greece, 5th century B.C.E. Melisto, daughter of a wealthy Athenian family, has everything she wants except her mother’s love; Rhaskos, a slave in Thessaly, is deeply loved by his mother, a noble Thracian enslaved during war. Rhaskos loses his mother when she’s sold, while Melisto gains a caregiver who guides but doesn’t judge her independent spirit. At 10, Melisto is chosen to serve the goddess Artemis as a child priestess, known as a Little Bear, and enjoys the freedom of running wild in the woods but knows she’ll eventually have to return to her family and marry. Meanwhile, Rhaskos, who finds solace and pleasure in drawing horses in stolen moments, becomes personal servant to unpredictable, often violent Menon. The children have never met but a connection is forged in the aftermath of tragedy by Rhaskos’ mother, who grieves being torn from her son and cares more for Melisto than she will admit. That connection becomes the driving force of this inventive, beautifully written novel told in verse and prose from multiple perspectives, including occasional, often humorous intercessions from Greek gods. A cast of vividly realized characters includes the philosopher Sokrates, who befriends thoughtful young Rhaskos after Rhaskos arrives in Athens and is sold to a potter. Photographs of museum artifacts appear throughout with an explanation of how each might have been used in Ancient Greece before being cleverly woven into this captivating, often surprising story. (Ages 10-14)

The Newbery Medal–winning author of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! gives readers a virtuoso performance in verse in this profoundly original epic pitched just right for fans of poetry, history, mythology, and fantasy.

Welcome to ancient Greece as only genius storyteller Laura Amy Schlitz can conjure it. In a warlike land of wind and sunlight, “ringed by a restless sea,” live Rhaskos and Melisto, spiritual twins with little in common beyond the violent and mysterious forces that dictate their lives. A Thracian slave in a Greek household, Rhaskos is as common as clay, a stable boy worth less than a donkey, much less a horse. Wrenched from his mother at a tender age, he nurtures in secret, aided by Socrates, his passions for art and philosophy. Melisto is a spoiled aristocrat, a girl as precious as amber but willful and wild. She’ll marry and be tamed—the curse of all highborn girls—but risk her life for a season first to serve Artemis, goddess of the hunt.

Bound by destiny, Melisto and Rhaskos—Amber and Clay—never meet in the flesh. By the time they do, one of them is a ghost. But the thin line between life and death is just one boundary their unlikely friendship crosses. It takes an army of snarky gods and fearsome goddesses, slaves and masters, mothers and philosophers to help shape their story into a gorgeously distilled, symphonic tour de force.

Blending verse, prose, and illustrated archaeological “artifacts,” this is a tale that vividly transcends time, an indelible reminder of the power of language to illuminate the over- and underworlds of human history.