DATELINE: TROY

Perhaps the ultimate model for making history relevant: Fleischman (A Fate Totally Worse Than Death, 1995, etc.) retells the major events of the Trojan War, while the accompanying collages show photos and newspaper articles and headlines from this century that in some way are similar to those ancient events. The idea is so immediate and arresting that readers may wonder why it's never been tried before. The parallels Fleischman finds are sometimes obvious, sometimes clever, occasionally brilliant, and always thought-provoking. The tinted collages alone are neither entirely artistic nor totally useful; all the articles are cut off and some are hard to read, and while references are given in the back, few children will have the perseverance to look them up. The art makes the link and then moves on, but such purposeful editing of the modern incidents makes more of a gimmick of the idea than may be intended. No sources are given for the Trojan War events, which becomes noticeable when the author uses a variant of the Odysseus story that is not from Homer. Despite these minor drawbacks, this is a superb and often inspiring work. (Folklore. 10+)