Theras and His Town by Caroline Dale Snedeker (2005-05-03)

Young readers will enjoy this story of an Athenian boy named Theras who is forced to relocate to Sparta. Theras faces unexpected and difficult challenges while living in Sparta. He longs to escape from the harsh conditions that the boys of Sparta must endure and return to the more refined lifestyle and education that exist in Athens. I highly recommend this book for older elementary age through middle school as a compliment to a study of ancient Greece. Caroline Snedeker brings the era alive with historical facts about Athens and Sparta in a way that makes the story fun and engaging! For older, more advanced readers I recommend "The Spartan" by the same author(See my review for that title).

Theras is a young boy from Athens who is as happy as any young Athenian boy could be. He has friends, an awsome dad, two fun little sisters and a chance to be in the Olympics. One day, Thereas's father is called to war. Later on, news that Phiedon, Theras' father, has lost a trading ship and that the family may lose every thing reaches Theras and his family. Later on that very same week, cries could be heard from Theras's house; Phiedon had been killed at war. Not only was the family sad about their loss but even more sad when word got to them that their broken family, would gat broken some more. Theras was told he was to go to Sparta and live with his relatives. Sparta is a vicous place to live. Instead of giving toys to sacrifice, boys give blood. Instead of playing on holidays, they fight, to the death. When Theras hears about this he longs, more than ever to be back in Athens. One day, Theras runs away from it all and meets a Perioikoi boy named Abas and they instantly becaome freinds. After another one of Theras's few Spartan friends is killed Theras meets with Abas and they head back to Athens. It is a hard jouney back, but they finaly make it back. I really enjoyed this story by Caroline Dale Snedeker and I hope you do to. There is never a dull momentin this book; enjoy!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be taken away from you family, friends and the city that you love? Well in the story "Theras and His Town" by Caroline Dale Snedeker, that is exactly what happens. Theras is the main character and is a lively and curious boy who loves his hometown of Athens. The story is set in ancient Greece. It is about how Theras' father dies in war and his mother can support him. So he is sent to Sparta a place that Theras doesn't like because of their cruelty. While there he meets a boy named Abas and then he finally makes a decision to make the long, dangerous, journey home to Athens with him. This book is well written and makes you feel like you are in ancient Greece. It also has a good amount of action and adventure to make you want to keep reading. I personally love this book because it is a story that you just want to keep on reading. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

I read this book with my 11 year old son. Some of the names are very hard to pronounce at times. This makes it kind of hard to read out loud and hard to keep track of who is who. Other then this, you really get to know the character and his world. It has lots of historical facts. This makes it very interesting. All and all, a good book. At the end I was sory it was over and will miss reading about Theras' adventures.

Theras and His Town is a great book because it makes you want to read on, it is interesting, and the story is well written. These things make me think the book is marvelous.The book is about Theras, a patriotic Greek boy, who lives in Athens. Theras faces a lot of problems during the story. He learns that he has to overcome his fears and take chances. He has to learn to live in Sparta which is a harsh and cruel place. He runs away with a slave and risks being caught by Spartan soldiers. It was a very brave act. This book is good for kids because it relates to a kid and the character ,Theras, is easy to relate to. One of the main reasons I think this book is great is because the story has just enough details to make you understand it, but not too many that it gets boring. That is why I love this book, and I hope other people will read it.