Mythology for Teens vs. Reaching Olympus: What's the Difference?

Mythology for Teens and Greek Mythology for Teens are published through Routledge.  It features chapters built around a "big idea" from one the myth-plays:  There are six chapters with topics like war, fate, national identity, beauty, heroes, gender roles, etc.  The stories covered are Perseus, Atalanta, Oedipus Rex, the Judgment of Paris, the Iliad, and the Aeneid.  It has illustrations that I drew for the book and some activities in the back.  However, copyright laws prevent teachers from copying directly from the book.  The publisher expects teachers to purchase a class set.  You can find out more information on the publisher's website HERE.

Reaching Olympus is a self-published series that has multiple volumes dedicated to Greek mythology (Tales of Titans Gods and Mortals; Heroes, Beats, and Monsters; and the Saga of the Trojan War including the Odyssey), Roman Mythology, Norse Mythology, the Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Legends of Robin Hood, and Hero Tales from Around the World. The series is designed for teachers to purchase a single download to provide copies of the script-stories for their students. Some of the script-stories in the Reaching Olympus series are also in Mythology for Teens, but the Reaching Olympus series is much more comprehensive and scope and includes more teacher guidance. Each script-story has a 2-page teacher guide that gives plenty of questions, connections, big ideas, teachable terms to help teachers teach the script-story.  Each volume in the series also has a few activities in the back, a glossary of important characters, and a pronunciation guide.  Teachers are free to copy as much material as they want out of the book. Digital Class Sets of these textbooks also give teachers permission to upload the stories directly to a LMS (Learning Management System) of their choice such as Google Classroom. Find out more about this series HERE.

Which Is Best for You?

That depends on your needs. Mythology for Teens goes more in-depth with fewer myths.  Reaching Olympus still gives you more script-stories and plenty of teaching ideas but does not have the chapters built around the themes in each play.