Hercules Beal is just starting middle school. He has to go to this school of Environmental Studies because it is walkable. He and his brother, Achilles, are trying to figure out how to run their business (a greenhouse) and their lives after the death of their parents.
In school Hercules has a Lieutenant Colonel as his homeroom teacher, English teacher, and history teacher. He's no-nonsense and starts the year giving each student an 8 month project linked to Greek Mythology. Every one is personalized for each student. Hercules' is to reanact the 12 Labors of Hercules. So many life lessons, so much healing, so much growing in this touching tale. ( )

This is classic Gary Schmidt: a caring teacher helping a troubled kid. The setting is so beautifully and lovingly described, you'll want to move to Cape Cod (even though the weather is treacherous). You will also wish your neighbors were as kind and generous as the folks in Truro. There are no bad guys in this book, except one bully who ends up coming around (of course, because Gary Schmidt).

I noticed that there are a lot of car accidents in this book. When the story begins Hercules and Achilles have just lost their parents in a collision with a drunk driver. Later in the book, there is another scary accident. And just when you think there can't possibly be another driving incident, boom, there is. Come to think of it, there's also a treacherous drive in a school bus.

I took off a star because I absolutely hated the part where Achilles and Viola leave Hercules alone for two weeks and the two guys hired to help run the family business are comically terrible. I can't explain why that made me so mad except, like, hasn't Herc been through enough? I think young readers will not be upset by this part (it will probably even make them laugh), but as a parent, I found it outrageous in a bad way.

Anyway, the audiobook was great. Excellent narrator. ( )

Twelve-year-old rising middle schooler Hercules Beal's parents died in a car crash, killed by a drunk driver, so Herc's older brother Achilles came back from Washington, D.C. to take care of Hercules and run the family business in Truro. One of the first things Achilles does is get Hercules into the Cape Cod Academy for environmental sciences - pulling him away from his neighbor and best friend Elly and thrusting him into a new environment - where his homeroom teacher is Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer, who assigns each student an individual year-long mythology project. Hercules' is, of course, the twelve labors of "Hercules the Myth," and while Hercules Beal doesn't know how he's going to find, let alone complete, these labors, they fall into his lap one after another, after which he writes a 150-word reflection for Hupfer, and gets a tough (but increasingly heartfelt and always honest) response.

I picked this up because of Newbery buzz, then realized Schmidt had also written Pay Attention, Carter Jones, which I loved. I enjoyed reading Hercules Beal, but I think as a Newbery contender it has some flaws:
--Secondary characters, and Herc's relationship with secondary characters, aren't developed as much as they could be.
--The series of tragedies and storms, and the way that Hercules is frequently left by the (caring! nominally responsible!) adults in his life to fend for himself *and* take care of the Beal Brothers Farm and Nursery stretches belief...
--...as does the almost-magical appearance of his wonderful dog, Mindy (and the fact that he never really searches for any previous owner).
--the non-rescue of the feral cats, and the rescue of the coyotes
--Hercules' attendance at Mrs. Savage's gallery show, his bidding on the hippo, and the auctioneer letting him win so Mrs. Savage could have her sculpture (and memory of her husband) back...sweet but unlikely.

The theme, though, echoes that of Kate Albus' Nothing Else But Miracles: the neighborhood will take care of you.

Quotes

"It takes time to learn to love your home again after you've been away." (Mr. Farley, custodian, to Hercules, re: Achilles, 24)

"You hardly ever say what you're really thinking, do you?" (Viola to Hercules, 86)

...it felt like the day was eating us. We did try, though....It was like we were practicing being normal. It was like we were practicing not getting eaten up. It was like we were practicing what it could have been like. (176)

...in that whole story, there isn't a single living thing that comes out all right.
I guess some stories are like that. (225)

"Because maybe sometimes...you can get something back even when you think it's lost." (Hercules at the art gallery, 256)

You can't fix everything. But some things you can fix. And when you can fix them, you should. And when you can't - I don't know what you do when you can't. (Hercules' reflection for Lt. Col. Hupfer, 265)

But I wonder if what Hercules was most afraid of when he was holding up the sky wasn't that he was going to have to hold it up forever. It was that he was going to have to hold it up forever while he was by himself...
Maybe, the stuff we hold up, we don't have to hold up by ourselves all the time. Maybe sometimes we can let someone else hold it up too. Maybe that's how we can get by. (reflection, 317)

But what happens when you know that what you're waiting for will never come? (ch. 5)

"Mrs. Bontemps," I said, "everyone says you can fix any problem there is."
"They're exaggerating, Hercules. Only most problems." (Ch. 7) ( )

Gary Schmidt once again hits it out of the ballpark with this novel! I absolutely loved it.

Hercules Beal lives on Cape Cod, the most beautiful place on the planet--in his opinion. After the death of his parents, Hercules's brother, Achilles, moves home and they're running the Beal Brothers Nursery and Garden Center together. Another big change in Hercules life comes when Achilles moves him to a new school where he will no longer be with his best friend. After a 22 minute walk, Hercules arrives every morning to his homeroom, run by Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer. Here Hercules receives his assignment for the year: he must replicate the 12 labors of Hercules. His best friends tells him that situations will present themselves, she's right, they do. After a return 22 mile walk home, Hercules comes home to a list of chores because Achilles can't do it all himself. They aren't the only ones working. Hercules' girlfriend, Viola, "the vampire" helps a great deal.

I love the characters in this book. Hercules acts like a nice 7th grader who tries to do his best, but he doesn't see much beyond himself. He meets a new friend at school who made me giggle many times. He works the system, so to speak. Everyone does exactly as Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer says, but this boy pushes in an attempt to "break him in." He's a bit of a schemer. Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer may respond, "I don't care" to almost everything, but it's more than clear that he does care. He expects results, not excuses. He's a pretty clever teacher, as he assigns the year long project to each individual student based on what he notices about the student. As Hercules performs his feats, you meet the characters of the town. It's a small town, so they care for one another and sacrifice for one another. Hercules labors to find himself, reconcile himself with the past, and see a path forward.

I don't know how Schmidt writes such engaging and sweet books over and over, but he gets me every time. Yes, the labors are not very realistic, but they help him find his place in the family, in his friendship, and within his community. ( )