When it comes to reading, kids are like dogs. Try sneaking a pill into the kibble and they will likely sniff it out. Jack Mitchell’s second historical novel, The Ancient Ocean Blues, gives readers many exciting and comical episodes about ancient Rome and Greece, but too many pills of historical research – along with a weak plot – sour the mix.

The novel tells the story of Marcus Oppius Sabinus, a Roman teenager sent on a mission of espionage by one of Julius Caesar’s henchmen. The journey leads Marcus by sea to many lands, but because his mission’s significance and viability is not clearly defined, and because it has no vital importance to Marcus’s own life, the story lacks drive and his character fails to develop. Marcus’s mission, instead, comes off more like a meandering vehicle for Mitchell’s historical research.

Of the copious historical fact stirred into the mix, the bitterest pills are the many bits of information about ancient Roman novels and Greek poetry. These come from Marcus’s girlfriend, an avid reader, and a fictionalized version of Homer (centuries out of place), both of whom are along for the journey. Since these passages often remove us completely from the action, many young readers will simply glaze over during them.

The best sections are those set on the ocean. In particular, the closing chapter, which recreates Pompey the Great’s 67-66 BC naval battle against Cilician pirates, is good, rousing fun. In the end, however, Marcus’s muddled mission fizzles out, leaving us wondering what all the fuss was over.