The Boy Lost in the Maze by Joseph Coelho

I'm not usually a poetry reader, but as you probably know if you've been following me for a while, I can't resist anything to do with Greek mythology! So hearing this one involved Perseus and the Labyrinth, of course made me want to pick this up immediately and it also has the added bonus of getting me into poetry.

I have a small extract from the book for you, and doesn't it make you want to read the rest? I'm definitely looking forward to it.

                "I've noticed a silence 

                whenever I ask about my father. 

                Unspoken whisperings 

                mumble behind my mother's sealed lips. 

                I last saw him 

                in a mudslide of argument. 

                Told never to open the door to him, 

                         to stonewall his calls 

                         and brick up 

                his letters."

Book Summary

In his new verse novel, Joseph Coelho brilliantly blends Greek myth with a 21st century quest. In Ancient Greece Theseus makes a dangerous and courageous journey to find his father, finally meeting the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. While Theo, a modern-day teenage boy, finds himself on a maze-like quest to find his own father. Each story tells of a boy becoming a man and discovering what true manhood really means,

The path to self-discovery takes Theo through ‘those thin spaces where myth, magic and reality combine’. Doubts, difficulties and dangers must be faced as Theo discovers the man he will become.

Author Bio

Joseph Coelho became the Waterstones Children’s Laureate in 2022. His debut poetry collection Werewolf Club Rules, published by Frances Lincoln, won the CLiPPA Poetry Award in 2015. He has written plays for young people for the Theatre Royal York, Pied Piper, Polka and The Unicorn Theatres. As well as poetry and plays, Joseph also writes picture books including Luna Loves Library Day (Andersen Press) and non-fiction books including How To Write Poems (Bloomsbury). All of his work has poetry and an element of performance at its heart making his festival and school sessions dynamic occasions. Joseph is a staunch ambassador for Britain’s straitened public libraries. He lives in Kent.

Find Joseph on Twitter and Instagram. For more on illustrator Kate Milner on Twitter and Instagram.