Awards

It has always bothered me that today Andromeda is invariably white and blonde when she appears in books and movies even though the ancient stories about her generally agree that she was the princess of Aethiopia, a kingdom in Africa south of Egypt. That’s why I was thrilled to come across this book. Andromeda, Princess of Ethiopia gives an accurate version of the Greek myth about Andromeda’s rescue from her point of view, leaving out any mention of Perseus’quest to kill Medusa. If the choice is limiting, it does provide a nice romantic story for preschoolers who aren’t into severed heads yet. Instead, the book focuses on placing Andromeda within an Ethiopian context, citing other references to Ethiopia in Greek literature, and connecting Ethiopians to the wider Mediterranean world. I particularly like that the book starts with humanity’s early history in the region, then uses the story of Andromeda to connect Ethiopia to modern day astronomy and space exploration.