If you’re looking for a book with the maximum amount of humor and no respect for epic mythology, this is the book for you. Our Reluctant Hero is Gryllus, a fast-talking, wise-cracking pig (yes, a pig) with a personal vendetta against the landscape, whose only life goals are to wallow in the mud, eat his weight in veggies, and avoid all responsibilities. He used to be one of Odysseus’ sailors, but after Circe turned him into a pig, he realized that he was onto a good thing and opted to stay that way. After all, when you’re a pig, all the troubles of the human condition are suddenly null and void. Unfortunately, fate has other plans, and Gryllus is thrust into an epic quest to Save The World. 

The frustrating job of keeping Gryllus on task falls to Sibyl, a young priestess of Apollo with the gift for prophecy. She knows what happens if they fail, so she’s more than ready to drag Gryllus through this life and the next if she has to. The odd couple pick up a number of companions along the way, among them Homer, a young poet looking for his first big break, Thales, an extremely forward-thinking scientist, and one rather grumpy goddess of Vengeance. This is not an exact retelling of the Odyssey. Gryllus is much too smart and too sarcastic to be an epic hero, and he knows better than to go island hopping in the Mediterranean. However, author Paul Shipton really knows his subject. The text is full of irreverent in-jokes about epic poetry and Greek tragedy that will delight any mythology lover. It’s a great book for fans of Terry Prattchett’s Discworld, or fans of The Bad Guys series by Aaron Blabey who are ready for a more challenging read. The Pig Scrolls shows readers an old story from a new angle in a cheeky, modern tone that’s a laugh a minute. – Krishni Burns

Focusing on a minor character from an ancient myth, The Pig Scrolls is ostensibly authored by “Gryllus the Pig,” one of Odysseus’ companions who has deliberately avoided being changed back into a human in order to enjoy a carefree existence. Shipton reworks the events and themes of the Odyssey to construct Gryllus’s own story: he travels through the Mediterranean world and saves the cosmos from threats to the Olympian order in the company of a determined young ex-Pythia named Sybil and a pimply teenaged poet named Homer (to whom Gryllus provides the material that becomes the Odyssey). Gryllus is an irreverent anti-hero, more interested in eating pies than saving the world, and he revels in earthy jokes, ludicrous similes, and deflating juxtapositions of high and low. Along the way, Gryllus’ entertaining account of his adventures and misadventures introduces readers to a considerable number of Greek myths, as well as a few life lessons. Ages 10-14. - Sheila Murnaghan