by Madeline Miller (2011)
A lyrical, breathtaking reimagining of Homer's Iliad told through the eyes of Patroclus, an exiled prince whose devoted love for the demigod Achilles leads both men to the blood-soaked shores of Troy.
Madeline Miller
Banished by Zeus to the solitary island of Aiaia, the daughter of the titan Helios discovers she possesses the power of witchcraft, taming wild beasts and navigating treacherous encounters with Odysseus, Daedalus, and the Minotaur.
Caroline B. Cooney
Anaxandra is taken from her birth island at age 6 by King Nicander to be a companion to his crippled daughter, Princess Callisto. Six years later, her new island is sacked by pirates and she is the sole survivor. Alone with only her Medusa figurine, she reinvents herself as Princess Callisto when Menelaus, great king of Sparta, lands with his men. He takes her back to Sparta with him where Helen, his beautiful wife, does not believe that the red-headed child is Princess Callisto. Although fearful of the half-mortal, half-goddess Helen, Anaxandra is able to stay out of harm's way--until the Trojan princes Paris and Aeneas arrive. Paris and Helen's fascination with each other soon turns to passion and plunges Sparta and Troy into war. Can Anaxandra find the courage to reinvent herself once again, appease the gods, and save herself? In Caroline B. Cooney's epic tale of one girl's courage and will to survive, Anaxandra learns that home is where you make it and identity goes deeper than just your name.From the Hardcover edition.
J.R.R. Tolkien
In the peaceful Shire, Frodo Baggins inherits the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron. Accompanied by a diverse fellowship of men, elves, dwarves, and hobbits, he embarks on an epic quest across Middle-earth toward the fires of Mount Doom.
Anthony Doerr
Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo. In a German mining town, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up enchanted by a crude radio he finds that brings him news and stories from far off places.