Book review: Halo

Published on Saturday 6 February 2010 11:12

Halo by Zizou Corder, is published by Puffin Books, priced £6.99.

Rarely is a so-called children's book a real page-turner for adults, but with Halo, Zizou Corder (Louisa Young and her daughter Isabel Adomakoh Young) has created something special that tackles adult themes of gender equality, politics and identity in a simple, compelling way.

We meet the eponymous heroine as a baby, washed up on the island of Zakynthos, with only an owl amulet and a mysterious tattoo as clues to her identity.

Brought up by centaurs, Halo is captured by human fishermen and so begins her odyssey to discover who she really is, but she soon learns that to survive in ancient Greece, she needs to disguise herself as a boy.

She's enslaved by the militaristic Spartans, learns from an oracle that she is Athenian and escapes to Athens with help from Spartan-with-a-conscience Leonidas. While Halo begins to find out her true identity, Athens is under threat from the Spartan army. A fresh and truly captivating read.

8/10 Review by Kate Whiting