A witty, breathtaking and educational adventure, Socrates & Soc takes a look into the past and present through the eyes of two identical 13-year-old boys who time-travel and trade places with the help of the magic stone. Although the duo may be from different centuries, 457 BC and 2004 AD, they share the same name and hail from the same city, Athens in Greece. What’s more, one of the boys happens to be the ancient philosopher Socrates.
What happens in 2004? As a boy, ancient Socrates implements his philosophical ideas as a way of life. Author, Maria Xenidou, portrays him as wise, strong minded and intelligent. Employing the dialectic method, he continually poses questions to invoke people into thinking about situations and issues, and after deduction, their own conclusions are exactly what the boy said in the first place. Some things just don’t make sense to him, but there is nothing complicated about one of the greatest minds experiencing for the first time fizzy drinks and burping!
Meanwhile in 457 B.C, Soc witnesses how the ancient Olympic Games took place and has a chance to explore the ancient world which he discovers is surprisingly liberal and advanced in ways he never expected. Without TV and Wii, Soc has a hard time adjusting to a life-change that’s full of physical activities and mishaps. In no time he learns to adapt and appreciate the ancient ways of his ancestors and gradually starts to love a more natural way of life.
An adventurous and compelling story for ages nine to eighteen, the book is peppered with humor, steeped in ancient Greek life, and guaranteed to equally amuse and amaze older readers.