Laura J. Brown (Children's Literature)
School is much more than getting good grades and completing end of the year projects. School is about having friends, looking and being cool, puppy love crushes, and being popular. Pandora Atheneus Andromaeche Helena, or Pandy as she is called, has none of those things, except for friends, or at least that is the way she feels. She has two best friends Alice and Iole, who are pretty much in the same category as she is in when it comes to school. Pandy is no ordinary middle school student. She and her friends live in ancient Greece, when the great gods of Olympus ruled the world. Her father is Prometheus the Titan, the immortal that brought fire to mankind and was punished for it by the greatest of all gods, Zeus. After many long years of suffering, Zeus released Prometheus from his suffering with one condition. This condition was that he had to guard a box that had all the evils in the world in it. If the box was ever opened the evils in the box would destroy mankind. Thankfully Zeus’ daughter, Athena, put hope in the box to save mankind from completely being destroyed. Pandy, who is determined to impress everyone at school with her project of an example of the gods’ enduring presence, takes this box to school. Pandy soon finds out she made a very bad decision. This novel is wonderfully written and downright funny. Readers will enjoy learning about the great ancient gods of Greek myths and will learn how to deal with peer pressures that have been around as long as myths. Readers will also be delighted to learn that the author of this novel is also an actress and trapeze artist, and she has written a whole series about Pandy and her friends. 2008, Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children’s Books, $14.95. Ages 10 to 15.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2007 (Vol. 75, No. 23))
In the first episode in a chick-lit hero-tale series dubbed "Mythic Misadventures," 13-year-old Pandora Atheneus Andromaeche Helena—Pandy, for short—"borrows" the fateful box from her father Prometheus for a school project, then is charged by Zeus to recapture the seven escaped evils—or else. Assisted (ably or otherwise) by her trusty dog Dido, two friends (one with, literally, two left feet) and several sympathetic Greek gods, she starts off by going after Jealousy, which has taken up residence in nearby Delphi. Flavoring her ancient-world setting with such modern tropes as school cliques, incipient zits and parenting issues, Hennesy also populates it with a mix of mortals, immortals, demigods and monsters at least loosely based on those from myth (an annotated cast list is appended). The result is a tale that starts out light but takes on more serious notes as Pandy sees the widespread catastrophe she's caused and courageously shoulders the responsibility for making things right again. Deed done at last, Pandy and sidekicks head off to Alexandria to tackle Vanity. It won't be hard to sell this to Rick Riordan fans, though it reads a little younger. 2008, Bloomsbury, 256p, $12.95. Category: Fantasy. Ages 11 to 13. © 2007 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Michelle Glatt (Library Media Connection, April/May 2008)
Prometheus' daughter "Pandy" in an attempt to impress her middle school classmates, shows off her father's "secret box" that she knows should never be touched. When it is accidentally opened, evils escape into the world and an infuriated Zeus sends her on a dangerous quest to retrieve them. Pandy and her friends successfully "get" jealousy in this first book of a new series. Hennesy makes Greek stories somewhat accessible, as the gods of Olympia behave badly. However, the author's attempt to modernize the story by mixing modern slang with Greek expressions seems forced. Words underlined in dialogue to show emphasis are distracting. Readers who want an update to classic mythology are better off reading Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (Hyperion). Additional Selection. 2008, Bloomsbury Children's Books, 272pp., $14.95 hc.. Ages 10 to 14.

April Spisak (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, March 2008 (Vol. 61, No. 7))
A school project about the gods should have been easy for Pandora, the daughter of Prometheus: after all, her father still has a piece of his liver that was pecked out after his godly theft, saved in a jar and ready for show and tell. Pandora is bored with jarred liver, however, and thus begins a horrible mistake leading to a life-changing adventure as she instead selects a small forbidden box to bring to school. Of course, the box is opened, and seven evils and miseries are immediately released into the world (unlucky Pandora here manages to slam the box shut before Hope can, as in the original, make its way into the world as well). Although the gods’ first “solution” of simply torturing Pandora and her family for all eternity is temporarily discarded, the task she is given to avoid that fate will be nearly impossible: Pandora must recapture all of the evils in only six months. It quickly becomes clear that this novel is the first in a series, with Pandora only seeking one of the evils, jealousy, in this outing. Even with little realistic uncertainty about whether Pandora will ultimately emerge triumphant (she is remarkably quick-witted in spite of her clumsiness, and she is surrounded by admirably well-suited friends and allies who are secretly assisting), Hennesy ably creates tension through unpredictable pacing, the inclusion of unexpected villains, and the satisfyingly over-the-top interventions of the gods. In an increasingly rich field of mythology-based fiction for upper elementary and middle school students, Pandora’s attempts to save herself, her family, and the world represent a worthy addition Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Bloomsbury, 264p., $14.95. Grades 5-6.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2008)
In an effort to impress her classmates, thirteen-year-old Pandora brings to show-and-tell a box she's been told never to touch. Suddenly evil is everywhere, and it's up to Pandora to save the world. The forced teen slang is jarring against the ancient Athenian setting ("Puh-leeze!") and there are occasional factual errors, but some of the classical anachronisms are clever. Glos. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2008, Bloomsbury, 261pp, 14.95. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.