Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams / Goddess Girls (ages 8-12) series 1 HANDOUT FOR: WHY WRITE ONE BOOK WHEN YOU CAN WRITE A SERIES? Panel: editor Alyson Heller and author Joan Holub This was the first page of a 9-page single-spaced series proposal Holub and Williams submitted along with chapters 1-3 of book one. #1 Athena the Brain was published in April 2010 by Simon & Schuster / Aladdin Paperbacks. Goddess Girls series is contracted through book #25. Series title: GODDESS GIRLS By Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams SERIES SYNOPSIS and PLOT SUMMARIES for BOOKS 1-4 Series Synopsis: Young goddesses-in-training Athena, Persephone, Aphrodite, and Artemis attend Mount Olympus Academy along with other mythological characters of Greco-Roman myth. Their stories in this series loosely follow actual myths. The four main characters are: Athena (goddess of wisdom, military victory, and weaving) - formerly schooled on earth at Triton Junior High, she is an overachiever who’s new to Mount Olympus Academy. She has trouble adjusting to her new school and making friends, especially when snakey Medusa keeps bullying her. Persephone (the goddess of spring and the Underworld) can make unusual flowers grow at her command. She’s kind, sympathetic, and a great listener—most of the time. But there’s a dark side to her nature few suspect. Aphrodite (goddess of love and beauty) works hard at staying gorgeous and is always fashionably dressed. While fending off the sometimes unwanted attention of boys, she enjoys playing the role of matchmaker for others, particularly mortals. Artemis (goddess of the hunt and the moon) is a messy, klutzy tomboy who is always “hunting” for things she lost. A dog-lover, she’s the leader of a club of nymphs whose goal is to protect animals and the environment. The four goddesses’ friends and schoolmates include other mythological characters such as: Pandora (a mortal whose curiosity leads the goddesses into trouble); Narcissus (a stuck- up guy who thinks he’s cute and cool); Hades (an intense, gloomy loner from a bad area known as Underworld); Hephaestus (an ugly, but sweet guy with a limp and a bad stutter); Adonis (a guy all the girls think is hunky); Achilles (who seems impossible to beat, but has a weak spot); Orion (a social climber); Medusa (a mean girl with snakes for hair); Nike (a girl who has lent her name to a sportswear company—a controversial practice on Mount Olympus); and nine Muses (creative, likeable, flaky characters). Authority figures at the school include Principal Zeus and teachers including Cyclopes, Furies, Fates, and a few “boars.” The school sports teams are known as The Mounties (after Mount Olympus) and The Bolts (after Zeus’ thunder). The Goddess Squad cheers them on. Many other examples of updated mythological or ancient Greek references lend humor and hipness throughout. .