[Wings of Olympus 01] • The Winged Horse Race

THE WINGED HORSE RACE is a story that not only masterfully animates Ancient Greece and Mount Olympus, but also redefines the meaning of winning, loyalty, and friendship.

Pippa is utterly alone, a foundling abandoned to sleep in barns and roam from job to job, accepting scraps for food. All of that changes when she is selected by the goddess Aphrodite to be her representative in the life-threatening winged horse race, where the gods and goddesses compete using children as pawns in a brutal gauntlet, where the risks are high but the winner turns into a demigod and keeps her horse for life. Pippa doesn't believe she's fit to race, nor does she understand why she was chosen for this terrifying honor. She is certainly an outlier on the luxurious and capricious Mount Olympus, sleeping not in the sumptuous room she's been provided, but with the horses. But when it comes to Pippa and her eccentric but lovable horse Zephyr, the fears melt away, and all that is left is a girl and her desire to remain with her winged best friend.

Inspired by Kallie's long-held obsession with and research of Greek mythology and her passion for horses and riding, The Winged Horse Race brilliantly imagines pure childhood fantasy and the classic horse story. From the Fates to Hades to the erratic and powerful gods to the stomach-dropping competition itself, The Winged Horse Race is a perfect introduction to great adventure for children and parents destined to love characters like Percy Jackson, with a brave heroine, a luminous supporting cast of characters and a fantastical, epic, impossible-to-forget world.

Kallie George is the critically-acclaimed author of many books for young readers, including the award-winning series The Magical Animal Adoption Agency and the forthcoming The Heartwood Hotel series, as well as the holiday picture book The Lost Gift, among others.