Hercules – Hero to Zero?
Tom Vaughan
Hercules Braver is no ordinary 12-year-old kid. Yes, he goes to school; yes, he has friends and yes, he likes to do a few crazy things. However, Hercules is, in fact, the secret son of Zeus, a Greek God who is all powerful. Hercules is named after a Greek hero but, unlike his namesake, he doesn’t have super-big muscles, loads of bravery and amazing good looks. And yet, what Hercules does have in abundance is spirit and lots of mad ideas to make money. He wants to make a million to take his lovely, hard-working Mum on the holiday of a lifetime. Hercules comes up with hare-brained schemes to get rich quick such as fart-absorbing underwear called ‘Flumpies’ and hollowed-out fresh vegetables where you can hide your valuables named ‘Vegfund’.
When all of those schemes fall spectacularly at the first hurdle, Hercules’ beleaguered mother decides to pack him off to Young Explorers Camp. Oh no, this is the holiday from hell!! It is full of activities to make Hercules cringe, and not make the fortune he craves. However, Hercules is not a kid who will give up easily, and he has one more brainwave which could just make him and his Mum rich forever!
Now if only that vengeful Greek God and very unusual father, Zeus, wouldn’t keep getting in the way…
Hercules Braver is a character like no other (well he is the son of a Greek God!). You will laugh all the way through this book as you follow his extraordinary exploits to get rich quick. You will laugh at Hercules’s eccentric ideas. You will laugh at the brilliant and very funny illustrations which run through every chapter. Hercules: Hero to Zero is the third instalment of a series, so there’s lots more fun to enjoy in these books which can also be read as standalone novels.
Published by Scholastic, 2025
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