The Three Spartans
The Three Spartans
By late afternoon the sun came out and dried up most of the town, but our feet stuck in the mud and whenever we hit an overhanging tree branch, water sprayed all over us. Staying silent while walking a narrow path through the woods was difficult. Our hands were full of plastic grocery bags and my dad’s hockey bag filled with gear. At one point a branch caught a plastic bag, ripping it open and spilling our food in the mud.
“Now what?” Lea said as she stared longingly at the meat cans and candy bars. I hefted the hockey bag onto the ground and unzipped it.
“Let’s hope these fit.” And thankfully, there was just enough room in the hockey bag.
I was so happy when we finally got near the base.
“Hold up, we need to give Ephie the signal,” Lea said.
I called out, “Baaaa.”
“That’s a sheep, doofus,” Lea said. It had never occurred to me I didn’t know what a goat sounded like.
“What does a goat sound like?” I asked.
She made a noise that was exactly like the one I’d made, and I told her so.
“That was not the same as yours,” she insisted.
“Exactly the same. Seriously. Ephie is not going to know it’s us, and she’s going to sound the alarm.”
At that moment, it occurred to me that even if Ephie did sound the alarm, none of the kids at the fort would know what it meant.
“No, she isn’t,” Lea said. I looked to where she was looking and saw Ephie standing guard at the mouth of the path.
“That’s sheep, not goats,” Ephie told us.
James McCann’s novel based on the Greek battle of Thermopylae is a quick, funny read that will introduce readers to key aspects of the battle in the same way that Rick Riordan’s books introduce them to mythology—through a modern retelling that young readers can identify and connect with. When friends Art Demus and Lea Nidas (admittedly, the names are a little “on the nose” but were good for a chuckle!) decide to stand up to a group of bullies who have been tormenting kids all over their small town, they learn just how complicated it is to lead an army. Battle plans, forming an army, and learning the ins and outs of warfare—all while hiding the issue from the adults—keep Art and Lea busy throughout this short book.
McCann’s novel is often subtle and clever in its nods to the original story, incorporating current locations and technology (video games, water parks, and treehouses) with the original order of events as a way to make the story more understandable and relatable. Sometimes it’s less subtle (see above re: character names, or flat out naming the secret access to the treehouse the Thermopylae Path), but I actually appreciate those little obvious references. It reminds us that we are in a retelling, written as an homage to a piece of history. I can honestly say I know more about this particular battle after reading The Three Spartans.
In fact, my favourite thing about this book is how closely it sticks to the original story, right down to (spoiler alert!) the fact that they lose the battle. For this particular age group, it’s not all that common to have an entire book build to one battle, only to have the hero lose. Typically, we would see the hero come out on top. This plot gives a different type of falling action, one in which the hero is coping with the loss rather than celebrating the victory, and I like how it’s handled in this story. It doesn’t end in complete devastation, but nor is it a happily-ever-after ending where the two opposing sides become friends.
My one wish would be for more information about some of the minor characters. In an effort to tell the entire plot in such a short novel, the author may have sacrificed some elements of characterization; I felt that I understood Art’s motives, but never really felt that other characters—specifically Lea, sidekick George, and villain Zeke—were given their fair share of backstory.
Overall, The Three Spartansis a quick, clever read that would primarily appeal to fans of historical fiction or even mythology-based fiction.
Allison Giggey is a teacher-librarian in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.