Ever wish you could be someone else? Well it is not that great as anaxandra(an-ex-andra) in The Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline B. Cooney finds out. When lying about who she is turns into a life or death struggle she is going to have to do to keep her loved ones alive.

    Anaxandra(“not alexandra a lot of people get it wrong” as it says in the book) is very young when she is taken away from her family and the small island that has no name that they live on. The king that has taken her wants to keep her as a companion to his daughter that is paralyzed from the waist down. A few years later her new home is attacked and she is the only one to survive. A few days later another king finds her by herself on the island and she lies about who she is.When the king takes her back Anaxandra meets Helen.  Helen is the most beautiful woman and when a prince from Troy ,Paris, falls in love with her she goes with him when the king is away.Taking Anaxandra with her by accident and given the responsibility to take care of Helens youngest child Pleis, who she loves like a younger brother.When the king comes to Troy to bring Helen back a war starts , and Helen starts trying to get rid of Anaxandra even if it means her death.

    My favorite part of the book was when Paris tried to kill  Pleis with quicksilver ,and Anaxandra saves him (like any heroine would) from being poisoned.She risks her own life because she loves him and I would risk my life for my loved ones.Even if it meant my own defeat.

    I would recommend this book for seventh and eighth graders, for both boys and girls. I really loved this book.I would rate it 99 on a scale from 1-100.