I had to refresh my memory of Greek mythology to fully enjoy this novel. But don’t let that throw you. Authors Gary D. Schmidt and Ron Koertge wrote it for middle-schoolers who may be crossing the River Styx for the first time. You’re bound to enjoy it as much as they will.

For a kids’ book, Styx and Stones begins grimly. Simon, an ancient Athenian boy, finds himself plunged into Hades, where he spends 2,451 years feeding pomegranate seeds to Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. Surrounded by insubstantial “shades” like himself, Simon finds eternity hopeless until a simple trick enables him to avoid the jaws of Cerberus and find a doorway back to mortality.

Amusingly, Simon awakens in the bathroom of a Minnesota middle school, where a boy named Zeke is being bullied at the hands of his classmates. Zeke, who has no friends, now has one in Simon, who says that Aristotle was right: friendship is a single soul in two bodies.

Meanwhile, back in the Underworld, King Hades is furious that one of his dead souls has escaped and sends a demon on a mission to bring Simon back. As for Persephone, she finds herself missing Simon because he was the only shade whose pomegranate servings were perfect. Gradually, Simon’s absence causes ripples throughout Hades, raising the stakes even higher.

Schmidt and Koertge cleverly employ the details of mythology to create a gentle, if scary, morality tale. There’s plenty to laugh about in both Earth and Hades. Although Styx and Stones contains a single offensive word, I give it a hearty five-star rating.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.