The blurb is not quite right.. Simo, the dolphin, explains that echoes of the past ring forward, and time has less meaning in the sea than on land. In any case, Demo doesn't belong to any particular time, either. As long as men have fished the Mediterranean, and until the dolphins are gone, there are boys who don't do well in school and dream of adventure. Demo sure learns a lot about history, and nature, and even the Greek gods, because of his friendship with Simo. And the reader will, too.

Much better, imo, than the Percy Jackson stories. Here we also explore with the author what it means to be human, by comparing ourselves to intelligent dolphins (and orcas). Dolphins don't understand war, or power. Can you eat power?" On the other hand, they're not empathetic with prey - no matter how valiantly a fish struggles, no matter how beautiful its courage, it's still food. We're not so coldly logical; but we sure are passionate.

At one point I was little confused by the author's message. I don't know if it;s the author speaking, or Demo musing, but we read "Odysseus hadn't seen his home for upward of twenty years. It that was living, there had to be a better answer somewhere." I'm not sure I agree. I think a lot of folks think that home is overrated, that one only truly lives when one is on a quest or risking life & limb. Think of John Muir, Captain Cook, Isabella Bird...

Btw, it's a myth that people used to think the earth was flat. The Greeks even calculated the circumference, hundreds of years BCE, and weren't all that far off.

"Everything is true... It all depends on how you look at it."" ( )