Hestia, goddessgirl of the hearth, feels invisible at Mount Olympus Academy (MOA). Every day, she hides under her hooded chiton at the back of class to avoid other students and unwanted attention. Hestia enjoys spending her time in the kitchen with MOA’s lunch ladies, inventing scrumptious dishes, but for almost four years, her shyness has prevented her from sharing her unique fire powers and excellent cooking skills with others. When the Service to Humankind contest tasks MOA’s students with choosing symbols that represent their contributions to humanity, Hestia enters in hopes of overcoming her shyness. With the help of her yummy recipes and her own determination, Hestia slowly comes out of her shell, sharing her special skills, making new friends, and even talking to a boy! Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams perfectly encapsulate what it’s like to be shy! Hestia really wants to put herself out there, but her fear of being judged prevents her from doing so. Many children also struggling with shyness can learn from Hestia. For example, just as Hestia shares her passion for cooking with the students at MOA, young readers can also learn to share their interests with others. Holub and Williams represent many mythological figures and locations through fun, interesting characters and settings while also educating readers on the mythology. - Olivia (age 15)

* 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).