When your world blows up, what will you hold on to?

Tag is a medical slave in a struggling gladiator school. Lucia is the daughter of the man who owns the school. She plots to escape being married off to an elderly man in return for a cash infusion into the school. Tag struggles to protect his father from the cruel master and dreams of earning his freedom in the arena. The two fall in love under the shadow of Vesuvius. Will the eruption destroy everything they hold dear?

Named to the 2016 Kentucky Bluegrass Award List

Chosen by the Students of Kentucky

Publisher’s Weekly: “…detailed descriptions of ancient medicine, religious practices, and gladiatorial combat …Shecter makes clever use of the historical eruption to give her tragic climax a bitterly ironic twist.”

Kirkus: “…the book’s focus on daily life in ancient Pompeii rings true. Their firm belief in various gods and goddesses and other superstitions comes across strongly…Romance with benefits.”

Booklist: “This plot-driven historical novel is a quick read, with enough Latin vocabulary and accurate descriptions of ancient Roman culture to keep readers interested, enlightened, and entertained.”

School Library Journal: “The novel illuminates many historical details of first-century Pompeii…”

This Kid Reviews Books.com:“This book is written like I like them – good story with an edge of humor!”

Kirkus Reviews: “A tour of the ancient Greek (and Roman) underworld, squired by Hades and his lovely wife, Persephone…[Hades] is a chatty chaperone [who] delivers background on the origins of his mythological clan…and his fiendish staff.”

Scholastic video introducing the book to teachers and librarians

Example of relatively small volcanic pyroclastic flow to understand what actually happened in Pompeii