Iris, Messenger (review)

As a loner seeking invisibility at her extremely unfriendly school, twelve-year-old Iris has always found company in reading; she is particularly excited, therefore, to discover that a mysterious package left at her door is a mythology collection with her name attached. When she dives in, Iris discovers writing in the margins, clues that direct her to various places around Pennsylvania where immortal deities have taken up residence. After visiting a few of them and hearing their stories, Iris realizes that she herself has a strong connection to the mythological world and uncovers a key fact that will change her life forever: her mortal father may not be her biological father. The stories of the fallen deities are elegant and haunting as they describe their path from worshipped to lovelorn and, in Poseidon's case, cooking in a crab shack. However, Iris' own journey is awkwardly built on the realization of the same clichéd dreams of many children who wish for different parents or imagine that their schools (and their social status within them) could miraculously improve. In addition, Iris' shift from isolated girl to self-possessed inter-world traveler who excels at detective work and matchmaking feels jarringly unrealistic, even in a fantasy. Although the mortal side of the story may not be memorable, Deming's careful exploration on the characteristics of the gods and goddesses that might actually lead them to various contemporary jobs in the U.S. remains an intriguing endeavor. Young mythology fans awaiting the next installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan (The Lightning Thief, BCCB 10/05, etc.) will likely find this to be a worthy read-alike.