The Gorgon Slayer

The premise of the Gary Paulsen "World Of Adventure" series is one that I strongly approve of. Young people can not only read an exciting adventure involving teen characters, but they will also learn something about mythology. In this story, Warren Trumbull lives in a world where mythological creatures are a fact and often a nuisance. Princey is an eight-foot Cyclops and runs an agency that specializes in dealing with mythological creature removal. Warren and many other teen-age boys work for him. On this day, Warren and his friend Rick are assigned the task of killing a Gorgon residing in the basement of Helga Thorenson. It appears to be an easy assignment; they plan on using the tried-and-true method pioneered by Hercules. Their first step is to go to the local rental store and obtain the necessary shields and swords. After some serious bargaining, they get them and proceed to the job site. This proves to be no average Gorgon, attempts by two previous workers led to them being turned into rockheads. After the initial battle, Rick is also turned to stone, so Warren is on his own. Using an inspired bit of cleverness, he manages to kill the Gorgon, which causes those turned to stone to revert to being human, albeit with some serious headaches. I enjoyed this story, the "routine" interactions between humans and mythological creatures were fun to read about. A great deal of our western culture is based on the mythological creatures conjured up by the Greeks and young people should learn something about it. This book is one of the most enjoyable ways to do so.