From National Book Award finalist Katherine Marsh: Percy Jackson meets Wednesday Addams in this fantastical adventure about Ava, who attends a boarding school for the descendants of Greek monsters and uncovers a terrible secret that could change the world forever. One of Kirkus's most anticipated books of 2024!
Ava Baldwin has always tried to keep her anger in check, just like her mom taught her. But when know-it-all classmate Owen King tries to speak over her yet again, Ava explodes . . . and Owen freezes, becoming totally unresponsive.
Although Owen recovers, Ava's parents whisk her off to her mother’s alma mater, the Accademia del Forte, a mysterious international boarding school in Venice. There, Ava and her brother, Jax, discover that the Olympian gods founded the Accademia to teach the descendants of mythological monsters how to control their emotions and their powers and become functioning, well-adjusted members of society.
But not everything at the Accademia is as it seems. After her friend Fia is almost expelled for challenging a teacher, Ava realizes the school is hiding a dangerous secret. To uncover the truth, Ava and her new friends embark on an adventure that could change the way they view history, mythology—and themselves—forever…or end their lives.
The series
In a Venetian boarding school where history’s shadows cling to every stone, legends are not just remembered, they are alive. At the Accademia del Forte, students carry the blood of creatures once branded as monsters in Greek myth. Their powers are unruly, their emotions dangerous, and their place in the world carefully controlled by gods who still demand obedience.
Read full series description
At the heart of the story is Ava, a girl whose anger flickers into something far more powerful than she ever imagined. Her journey begins with the unsettling discovery that she can freeze another human being, and from that moment, nothing feels safe or ordinary again. Within the academy’s marble halls, she uncovers truths buried under centuries of mythmaking, where questions of power, justice, and identity cut deeper than any blade.
The series unfolds with a haunting mix of adventure and intimacy. Venetian canals, frozen corridors, and mythic landscapes create an atmosphere that feels both timeless and urgent. Friendship and loyalty guide Ava as much as fury and defiance, and every challenge forces her to decide whether to accept the stories she has inherited or to write her own.
What makes these books resonate is not only their inventive retelling of Greek mythology but also their willingness to ask what it really means to be a monster. Through Ava’s struggles, readers are invited to reflect on anger, resilience, and the courage it takes to challenge the narratives that shape us.
Recognized by educators and young readers alike for its emotional depth and myth-infused storytelling, The Myth of Monsters offers a darkly atmospheric yet hopeful reimagining of ancient tales. It is a fantasy series that feels at once classical and refreshingly new, inviting readers to lose themselves in its wintry labyrinths and emerge with questions still burning.
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