Cupid

CUPID by Julius Lester
Category: Paranormal
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 1/1/07
Publisher: Harcourt
Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman
Rating: 5 Stars

Everybody knows who Cupid is, right? He’s the chubby little guy in diapers, who shoots people with arrows and makes
them fall in love. Or at least that’s how we picture him. I assume he probably wore diapers at some point, but this isn’t that
story. If you’ve ever read or studied any mythology, you know that gods were believed to be a lot like people. They made
mistakes, broke the rules, did stupid things, and weren’t always nice. This IS that story.

Though he is the title character, this story doesn’t start with him. It all begins with a beautiful girl named Psyche. Actually,
she’s more than beautiful. Words don’t exist to describe her beauty. Ask the letters, because they tried. Psyche is so
amazing to behold that all of the people in the kingdom stop what they’re doing to catch a glimpse of her on her afternoon
walk. Her father, the king, fearing the economic failure of his country, limits her walks. As with most of the best laid plans,
this one backfires. People quit working entirely to hang out by the castle waiting for the next time Psyche leaves. Then
people from other kingdoms start to relocate, all to see this incredible creature.

Now normally the affairs of humans don’t interest the gods. However, Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, gets a little
feisty when her temples are being neglected. When she finds out that there is a human who is possibly more beautiful than she
is and is stealing her attention… Let’s just say the goddess of love is not immune to jealousy. And, being a goddess, she is in
a position to cause some trouble. Enter Cupid, son of Venus, sent down to stir up some trouble.

Cupid has never been in love. Cupid gets entertainment by making unlikely people fall in love, by making happy couples fall
into hate, making people fall in love with people who are already in love with other people, and sometimes making people fall
in love with things that aren’t people at all. Cupid’s really not all that great of a guy sometimes. Venus sends him to earth to
take care of Psyche. Except Cupid falls in love with Psyche. That’s when the real trouble starts.

This is a great story, and worth being retold in any case. This particular retelling had me laughing hysterically. The Story and
the Narrator are constantly disagreeing over which points are important enough to include in the tale. They discuss and fight
at random intervals, until the Story gets involved in hearing the Narrarator’s version of itself. It’s hilarious!

If mythology had been available in this form when I was studying it, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten a “D."