The Tourtise and the Dare by: Terry Deary

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Picture Window Books

Copyright Date: 2007

Number of Pages: 63

Reading Level: 7-11

Summary:

The Olympics were coming up in ancient Greece and so the local school was holding a smaller version of the Olympics for all the boys in celebration. Girls couldn't participate in, or go to the Olympics at all. Ellie's brother, Cypselis, came home from school and announced that he was going to race against Bacchiad the biggest kid in school. They had a bet against each other, if Cypselis won then Bacchiad would give him a goat, but if Cyselis won, he said he would give him... Ellie! Ellie was furious! In those days, when men made an agreement it had to be carries out. Her brother was a slow runner and now she was to become Bacchiad's slave! Well, she decided she better help her brother practice if she wanted to stay free. When they went out and raced each other, she won. She was afraid. They came across the track where Bacchiad was practicing... He started to trash talk Cypselis and he was telling Ellie what he was going to use her for. Ellie fought back. She bet that he probably couldn't beat her and Cypselis is much hfaster than her! So, they raced. She would have beaten him if he hadn't kept elbowing her... She had stamina and he was strong so it was a close race. Cypselis was distraught what had he gotten Ellie into? That night they decided that Ellie would race for him. They were identical twins and so she cut her hair to look like a boy. Race day came. They went to the track. Then, the runners were all told to take their clothes off. She rounded on Cyslslelis. Now what was she supposed to do? Girls weren't allowed to watch the Olympics so how was she supposed to know they raced naked?? She decided she'd have to let Cypselis race. Halfway through the race Cypselis and Bacchiad were shoulder to shoulder... Bacchiad tried to elbow Cypselis but he ducked out of the way and Bacchiad lost control... He fell! Cypselis took off. But Bacchiad caught up. at the last second, he passed Cypselis. He won. But the referee found out that Bacchiad had eaten a leaf that would make him run faster so he had to forfeit. Cypselis won and they got a goat!

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

This is a good book to teach about ancient Greece. IT is fictional but it talks about the Olympics when they were pretty recent.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

Well, the boys run naked so that could be a problem for some parents. They also say words like stupid and I know some kids aren't allowed to say that word.

My reaction:
I thought this was a cute book. It had a fun story line that incorporated Ancient Greece culture. I would use this to teach.