At first I enjoyed Hades and his sense of humor and plays on words. By Chapter 6, just as the war was getting started, I was losing interest. In the effort to tell "both sides" of the story, Hades' zipping around became confusing and tedious. There is a great glossary in the back, but I'm not sure how many kids will know to use it.

Pros: Humor, dialogue, and brotherly discord between Zeus and Hades keep readers laughing and turning the page.

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In this updated version of Greek mythology, Hades, King of the Underworld, reveals the truth about Helen of Troy and the Trojan War. ( )

Background: Hit the Road, Helen! Is the story of the Trojan war and how it “really” went down. Narrated by none other than the famous god Hades, it retells the evens leading up to and during the epic battle of the Greeks and Trojans over what seemed to be a woman, Helen. Little did we know, that is not the story at all, but instead a story of the gods getting too wrapped up in the lives of humans.

Review: The Myth-o-Mania series is a group of books that parody the mythology of centuries ago in a way for young readers (ages 9-13 is what my ARC tells me) to learn as well as enjoy themselves. Hades is a very funny narrator for this tale and it also shows him in a different light. Normally Hades is represents as a hot head, angry all the time, shepherding the dead in the underworld. Here in this tale, he is trying to stop the war with all of his ideas, even though they are not working well. He is just a normal character.

The book is a very complete picture of the events leading up to the war and then the war itself with all the big pieces of history included. Hades spins it as if the war is all Zeus fault and also includes snippets about a good number of the gods who participated.

This is the ninth book in the series and I have not read any before this one, however I may just go to the library and grab them. It was a good thing that these seem to be stand alones as well. You can read them in any order really and it seems the next one is already in the works, per the epilogue. I learned a good amount of information I had forgotten and it was delivered in a fun and lighthearted way for young readers. I recommend this book to young readers and parents for their children to learn/enjoy at the same time. ( )