Arachne, the rash mortal who dared to value her weaving skills above those of the goddess Athena, explains herself in this verse rendering drawn from Ovid's cautionary tale in Metamorphoses.Young Arachne is bowlegged, ridiculed as ugly, and her family is poor and illiterate. "Don't let fools define you," her wise, loving mother tells her. "There are other ways / to make your voice heard." Arachne will express hers through weaving. Watching her mother place a woven offering on Athena's altar and sensing the goddess's indifference, she wonders if the Olympian weaver has ever done anything to earn their worship. Her mother's patient lessons and her own persistence ultimately make Arachne a weaver. After Arachne acquires a longed-for sibling, baby brother Photis, and a true friend, Celandine, life sweetens for a while. However, as the girls near marriageable age, cascading tragedies engulf Arachne's family, and Celandine is sexually assaulted. The girls flee to Celandine's cousin's city. Arachne's bitter contempt for capricious deities who rape, impregnate, then abandon the humans they fancy grows as she struggles to understand her own romantic feelings for Celandine. Meanwhile, her weaving brings her renown-and Athena's enmity. Gifted poet and storyteller Caprara keeps readers engaged, varying the pace, cadence, and emotional shading of Arachne's passionate refutation of the gods' ruthless exercise of power and privilege. Her own anger serves her purposes; if speaking truth to power exacts a high price, it's one she's willing to pay.Exciting, richly textured, thought-provoking fare. (Verse novel. 12-18)

Gr 8 Up— The tale of the Greek goddess Arachne from her perspective. As a young girl in the market, Arachne hears the whispers of the villagers when they say she has no future, that she is strange and unattractive. It is this day that leads Arachne to the loom with her mother to eventually become an expert weaver, just like the goddess Athena. Years later, though the experience in the market still haunts her, Arachne's life is full: her mother is her friend and mentor; she enjoys the company of a neighborhood girl, Celandine; she loves her younger brother; and her father is noticing her growing talent with the loom. Tragic events lead Arachne and Celandine to the city of Colophon, and it isn't long before people speaking of Arachne's extraordinary tapestries. But a life-changing mistake is made when she challenges Athena and claims to be an even better weaver than the goddess. Caprara's novel-in-verse gives Arachne's tale the texture it needs to keep readers engaged. Her frustration and anger towards the gods' unwillingness to show her mercy in multiple aspects of her life is palpable. Greek myths are seamlessly woven into the text as stories from Arachne's mother, which greatly impact Arachne's feelings. The pacing is perfect, starting off slowly and building to the exciting climax of Arachne's competition with Athena. Arachne also struggles with romantic feelings for Celandine, which aren't expressed until the eleventh hour. Instances of sexual assault are briefly described. VERDICT Captivating. Readers who enjoy mythology will devour this novel.— Lisa Buffi

Fans of Greek mythology will find themselves immersed in Caprara's novel-in-verse retelling of Arachne. At the story's outset, Arachne declares: "All agree: hubris / leads to my demise. // But the bards and poets / often get it wrong, especially / when they speak of / girls and women." And so, Arachne endeavors to set the record straight. Even as a young girl, Arachne was never accepted by those in her village, save for her family and her best friend, Celandine. She bristles at the inequalities between men and women and the injustices perpetrated on people by the gods. Braced by her mother's strength and tutelage at the loom, Arachne finds confidence and her voice in weaving. When Celandine is assaulted by boys in the village, the two girls run away to Colophon, where Arachne's talent (and her pride in it) draws the attention of Athena, with unthinkable results. Caprara weaves other myths phne, Persephone, Aite to Arachne's story, tucking a strong feminist message into her lovely writing that is sure to resonate with modern audiences.

Arachne, the rash mortal who dared to value her weaving skills above those of the goddess Athena, explains herself in this verse rendering drawn from Ovid's cautionary tale in Metamorphoses.Young Arachne is bowlegged, ridiculed as ugly, and her family is poor and illiterate. "Don't let fools define you," her wise, loving mother tells her. "There are other ways / to make your voice heard." Arachne will express hers through weaving. Watching her mother place a woven offering on Athena's altar and sensing the goddess's indifference, she wonders if the Olympian weaver has ever done anything to earn their worship. Her mother's patient lessons and her own persistence ultimately make Arachne a weaver. After Arachne acquires a longed-for sibling, baby brother Photis, and a true friend, Celandine, life sweetens for a while. However, as the girls near marriageable age, cascading tragedies engulf Arachne's family, and Celandine is sexually assaulted. The girls flee to Celandine's cousin's city. Arachne's bitter contempt for capricious deities who rape, impregnate, then abandon the humans they fancy grows as she struggles to understand her own romantic feelings for Celandine. Meanwhile, her weaving brings her renown-and Athena's enmity. Gifted poet and storyteller Caprara keeps readers engaged, varying the pace, cadence, and emotional shading of Arachne's passionate refutation of the gods' ruthless exercise of power and privilege. Her own anger serves her purposes; if speaking truth to power exacts a high price, it's one she's willing to pay.Exciting, richly textured, thought-provoking fare. (Verse novel. 12-18)