by Joan Holub
Amphitrite picked up a lyre from the pile of items she was surveying and strummed it. “Who gave you this?” she asked.
“Apollo,” Calliope told her. “Said it was his very first lyre.”
She thought about adding a “musical instrument” category to her poster, but then decided it wasn’t necessary, since she’d already collected quite a few instruments. Dionysus had donated a double-reeded aulos similar to the one Marsyas had played, Athena had donated a flute, and Poseidon, a drum set. There was also a set of musical pipes that the nymph Echo had gotten her friend Pan to donate.
Amphitrite put down the lyre and picked up a small knobby club, sending Calliope a questioning glance.
“From Heracles,” Calliope informed her. “It was his club when he was five years old, before he got the big one he carries now.”
“Aww. How cute!” said Amphitrite. She swung the club at a pillow on top of her bed and knocked it onto the floor. “You’ve got enough weapons to start your own war,” she joked.
Calliope laughed. Her roommate was right. The pile contained an amazing number of weapons, including championship-winning bows and arrows from Apollo and Artemis, a spear from Ares, and tridents from both Poseidon and Amphitrite. These would all go into the weapons display room of the museum.
She left her desk and began to pick through the pile too. She showed Amphitrite a cool three-dimensional model of the Underworld that Hades had donated, and then she held up two scrolls.
Amphitrite quirked her eyebrows. “What are those? Old scrollbooks?”
“Better than that,” said Calliope. “They’re original manuscripts for The Odyssey and The Iliad.”
“Fizzy!” Amphitrite exclaimed.
Calliope grinned. Amphitrite’s way of speaking was just one of the many things Calliope liked about her roomie.
The manuscripts had been donated by Homer, of course. Though Calliope’s museum mostly contained items from MOA students and teachers, she figured mortals would love seeing these manuscripts. After all, Homer’s stories often featured the gods. He’d even autographed the manuscripts with this gratifying inscription:
To Calliope, my talented Muse and forever friend.
The words had gone a long way toward helping her forgive his criticisms and the fact that he’d never returned her crush.
Crush? Calliope snapped her fingers, suddenly remembering some new donations she’d hung in the closet earlier so they wouldn’t get crushed or wrinkled. “Hey! I forgot to show you the gowns Aphrodite and Hera donated for the costumes room!” she exclaimed to Amphitrite. “They came before you got back from class today.”
She flung open her closet door. “Voila!” She’d shoved all of her own chitons to one end of her closet to make room for the donated gowns. There were a half dozen of them: three pink ones from Aphrodite and three others from Hera.
“Ooh! Look at this mega-gorgeous one!” Amphitrite held up a beautiful gold-colored floor-length chiton with a shimmering ten-foot-long train.
“That was Hera’s wedding gown,” Calliope informed her proudly. “She told me she made a deal with Zeus that if he cleaned up his office, she’d clear out closet space.”
“Mortals are going to flock to your museum to see this,” Amphitrite murmured, running a hand over the shimmery train. “Immortals, too. I can’t believe Hera was willing to part with it.”
Calliope nodded. “I couldn’t believe it either,” she said. “But she told me that a wedding chiton like hers wasn’t anything you could ever wear to another event, so she figured others could have the pleasure of seeing it.” She rummaged on a shelf for a few more items. “Look,” she said, holding up a pair of long gold gloves and a gold tiara. “Hera donated these things from her wedding outfit as well.”
While Amphitrite was admiring the gloves and the tiara, a magical breeze whooshed in through the girls’ open window and dropped off the newest Teen Scrollazine. It landed on the floor just beneath the window. Thump!
“I’ll get it,” said Calliope. After scooping up the scrollazine, she unrolled it to Pheme’s gossip column. In the previous week’s column Pheme had reported the missing Hero-ology game pieces. This week she announced that the pieces had been mysteriously returned, safe and sound.
Calliope smiled to herself. Only she and Homer knew the real story behind the disappearance and reappearance of the game pieces. She understood his devotion to his work and how those slumping sales might have driven him to make the bad decision he’d made. No lasting harm had been done. She didn’t see any reason to get him in trouble. And she doubted either one of them would ever tell anyone else about his stealing—er, borrowing episode.
She rolled the scrollazine back up. Later she and Amphitrite would take turns reading aloud from it to each other, just like they both used to do at home with their sisters. Calliope stretched. “I’m ready to do something fun,” she said.
“Me too,” said Amphitrite as she carefully set the gloves and tiara back on the top shelf of the closet.
“Want to go for a . . . ,” they both said at the same time.
They stopped and giggled. “You say it first,” said Calliope.
“No, you,” said Amphitrite.
Calliope thought for a moment. “Tell you what. We’ll both say it at the count of three. One, two, three . . . a nectar shake,” she said, at the same time that Amphitrite said, “A swim.”
They giggled again. “Swim first, shake after?” Calliope asked.
“Deal,” Amphitrite replied.
Calliope changed into her swimsuit and cover-up, but Amphitrite’s chiton would transform to a swim top and her legs would morph into a tail as soon as she dove into MOA’s pool. After grabbing towels, they headed out the door.
“Last one to the pool is a rotten egg!” said Calliope.
As they raced downstairs, Calliope’s heart was lighter than it had ever been since coming to MOA. How lucky she was to have found such a fizzy roommate and friend! No more lonely days. They chatted all the time but knew how to be quiet together too. Perfect match!
And it was going to be fantastically fun to see her museum become a reality. How long would it take? she wondered. Even after the museum was built, she’d continue to collect donations. It would be an ongoing project, and that delighted her.
She and Amphitrite burst out the front door of Mount Olympus Academy into sunshine and blue skies. Like all the days ahead, this one looked bright and full of promise.
Don’t miss the next adventure in the Goddess Girls series!
Coming Soon
JOAN HOLUB has authored and/or illustrated over 140 children’s books, including the New York Times bestselling picture book Mighty Dads (illustrated by James Dean) and Little Red Writing (illustrated by Melissa Sweet). She lives in North Carolina and at www.joanholub.com.
SUZANNE WILLIAMS is the author of over fifty books for children, including the award-winning picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg). She lives outside Seattle, Washington, and is online at www.suzanne-williams.com.
Together, Joan and Suzanne write the Goddess Girls, Heroes in Training, and Grimmtastic Girls series.
Aladdin
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READ ALL THE BOOKS IN THE GODDESS GIRLS SERIES
ATHENA THE BRAIN
PERSEPHONE THE PHONY
APHRODITE THE BEAUTY
ARTEMIS THE BRAVE
ATHENA THE WISE
APHRODITE THE DIVA
ARTEMIS THE LOYAL
MEDUSA THE MEAN
GODDESS GIRLS SUPER SPECIAL: THE GIRL GAMES
PANDORA THE CURIOUS
PHEME THE GOSSIP
PERSEPHONE THE DARING
CASSANDRA THE LUCKY
ATHENA THE PROUD
IRIS THE COLORFUL
APH
RODITE THE FAIR
MEDUSA THE RICH
AMPHITRITE THE BUBBLY
HESTIA THE INVISIBLE
ECHO THE COPYCAT
COMING SOON:
PALLAS THE PAL
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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First Aladdin hardcover edition August 2016
Text copyright © 2016 by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
Jacket illustration copyright © 2016 by Glen Hanson
Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.
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Designed by Karin Paprocki
The text of this book was set in Baskerville.
Library of Congress Control Number 2016937781
ISBN 978-1-4814-5005-8 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-5004-1 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-5006-5 (eBook)