Mr. Achilles

"Mr. Achilles" by Jennette Lee is a story about Achilles Alexandrakis, a Greek fruit seller living in Chicago during the early 1900s, who misses his home in Athens. The book opens with Achilles arranging fruit, thinking about Athens, and feeling sad because he is homesick and no one asks him about his homeland. When a little girl named Betty Harris shows interest in the Parthenon, Achilles feels happy and inspired, reminding him of the difference between his memories of Greece and his life in America. The book explores what it means to hold onto your culture when you are far away from home and how hard it can be to find a place where you feel like you belong.