Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
The Labors of Hercules Beal (HarperCollins, 2023) by Gary D. Schmidt is another winning story.
The smallest kid in his class, Herc Beal is named after Hercules. Yep, the mythical hero. His homeroom teacher at Cape Cod Academy for Environmental Sciences assigns him the task of completing the hero’s twelve feats. Like that’s possible. But his new teacher, Lieutenant Colonel Hupner, doesn’t care. On top of that Herc’s parents are dead, his brother Achilles is dating a vampire, and Achilles gets him a rabbit named Honey Bunny instead of the Dog Herc wants. Can life get any worse?
This award-winning author has other great books. I’ve previously recommended Orbiting Jupiter; Pay Attention, Carter Jones; and Okay for Now. Read about all his books here, where you can order signed copies.