Susan hates doing chores, or anything else that involves helping another person. However, when a magical Greek coin whisks her back to mythological Greece, she finds herself forced to help Hercules clean the Augean stables. Then Orpheus needs moral support getting down to the underworld, Bellerophon needs a partner to catch Pegasus, and Perseus will never find Medusa if someone doesn’t help him out. Susan might resent helping others, but eventually she discovers that helping heroes complete their tasks can be satisfying and rewarding. 

Helping Hercules is set up a little like a short story collection. Each chapter sends Susan back in time to a different myth, and each experience teaches something new about getting along with others. The heroes Susan encounters aren’t always very nice, but bratty Susan’s attitude is more than a match for any of them. Francesca Simon is the author of the long-running Horrid Henry series, and she knows how to write an entertaining “unlikable” character. It’s fun watching Susan boss others around, but also satisfying to see her learn that you get as much out of a friendship as you put into it. – Krishni Burns

* For further information on the Our Mythical Childhood Survey, please refer to the website of the project “Our Mythical Childhood” [link: http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/], led by Prof. Katarzyna Marciniak at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales,” University of Warsaw, Poland, with the participation of Bar Ilan University, University of New England, University of Roehampton, University of Yaoundé 1, and other affiliated scholars, within the funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement No 681202).