Elissa's Odyssey

Phoenix Rising Bk. 2:
Elissa's Odyssey
by Erica Verrillo

ELISSA'S ODYSSEY by

Category: Fantasy

Age Recommendation: Grades 6+

Release Date: 6/24/08

Publisher: Random House

Reviewed by:

Rating: 5 Stars

Summertime is the travel season for most, and an ideal time to pick up ELISSA'S ODYSSEY, the second book of

the

PHOENIX RISING trilogy.

After making their escape from the evil ruler, Kahn, Princess Elissa, her constant companion and lifelong confidant,

Gertrude the donkey, Ralph the camel, and Elissa's new friend, Maya, are led across the Great Oasis by the Blue

People of

the southern desert, to the city of Alhamazar as the group continue with their quest to return Elissa and

Maya to their

respective homelands.

Elissa's journey home has barely begun when she is cruelly separated from her friends and must make her own way

to the

seaside town of Gravesport. It is only when she meets outgoing but directionally-challenged deck hand Billy

Buck, the

dispossessed Count Favian of Leonne, Doc and Captain of the dodgy vessel called

Swamp Maiden

, that

the next leg of

Elissa's adventure truly begins.

It's the individual personalities and relationships between Erica Verrillo's quirky, charming characters that make the

travelogue across a foreign world of magic and fantasy so engaging -- though followers of the series should note,

most of

this installment is spent getting to know Elissa's new companions rather than those from the first book. Taken

as a whole,

ELISSA'S ODYSSEY is a delightful adventure for readers young and old.