Title: The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Puffin

Teacher review

The Greek god Apollo has once again annoyed his father, Zeus, and has been cast down to earth as a mortal. Not just any mortal, but a spotty teenager with no powers whatsoever.

Apollo - or should I say Lester Papadopoulos, his human name - knows that he will have to complete perilous, herculean trials to prove to his father that he is worthy of becoming a god once more. This is where we begin with The Hidden Oracle.

I loved this tale - as a fan of Greek mythology, I was in my element, but if you are not familiar with the Greek gods, do not despair: start with Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series and catching up with who’s who in Greek mythology will be a breeze.

The Hidden Oracle was a very fun read and I really enjoyed watching Apollo’s character grow as the book progressed. This story takes the reader on a fast-paced, daring adventure into a world where danger is always just around the corner, but so are the friends who will risk their lives to help our hero fight the enemy and complete his trial - saving the world as they do so.

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle is suitable for older key stage 2 children (Year 5 and above), but can be enjoyed by anyone who loves adventure, mythical creatures, enduring friendships and courageous battles.

Anna Tomlinson is school librarian at Charnock Hall Primary School. She tweets as @ScoutFinch_75

Pupil reviews

This book is funny and action-packed. It’s a real thriller if you know your Greek gods. If you don’t, it can get very confusing and even slightly boring.

William, 10

I really like how the author used mythology to create a story that children could enjoy and understand, by linking the Greek gods to modern life. However, I found some of the language repetitive and would have enjoyed it more if the author had used a wider vocabulary. Also, I would have found it useful if a pronunciation guide had been included in the Guide to Apollo-speak because I would have liked to know how to pronounce the Greek words used in the story.

I really liked the descriptive metaphors because they helped relate real-life things to mythology. I would recommend this book to boys aged 9+ and girls who don’t mind gruesome adventures!

Liesl, 11

Right at the start, I felt a bit sorry for Apollo because he fell down from the sky and he thought he had broken his ribs.

I think this book is magical because when Apollo was a god, he could turn into a hummingbird or dissolve into pure light. Meg is very brave and helps Apollo out of the woods, and helped defeat the dirty Nosoi as well. Meg and Apollo were happy when they found Apollo’s children at camp half-blood and found help there.

I recommend this brilliant book to 10-14 year olds, because it has some hard words in it and I personally don’t think that anybody under that age will understand what is going on in the story. This book is great and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Charlie, 10

As a Percy Jackson fan, I was really excited to read this book. I thought The Hidden Oracle was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! It was full of drama, comedy and action! I loved the way Apollo spoke almost like Shakespeare. I would recommend this book to ages 9+ and give it five stars out of five.

★★★★★

Sammy, 10

If you or your class would like to write a review for TES, please contact Adi Bloom on adi.bloom@tesglobal.com

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