Summary

Helena was her father’s little secret. The world knew that Paris Odyssey had a child, yet they didn’t know anything about them besides the fact that it liked inventing and was probably a girl. Even before his fame Paris kept his daughter hidden to the world and would go everywhere she would. She didn’t go outside for anything besides going to school.

Helena only cares about her education and inventing for the most part and only has a few friends. Boys are intimidated by her arrogance and intelligence and girls find her bratty, but she could care less. She’s not going to act like she is anything less than perfect for some friends.

Helena can be seen as a rude, arrogant spoiled brat at times because of her rich-girl lifestyle. She's lived her whole life being told she was better than everybody and she acts just like she is. However she is very caring to the people who dare to come close to her and loves talking to people. She's quite popular in school despite her attitude and her norther family members treat her like a little princess. To friends she is honest and loyal and will do anything to take care of them.

Personality                                                                                        

Prideful//Assertive//Creative//Intelligent//Hardworking//Honest//Loyal//Independent//Lively//Kind//Strong//Caring

Judgemental//Rude//Unfriendly//Bad at Understanding People//Domineering//Childish//Non-Empathetic//Arrogant

Helena only cares about her education and inventing for the most part and only has a few friends. Boys are intimidated by her arrogance and intelligence and girls find her bratty, but she could care less. She’s not going to act like she is anything less than perfect for some friends.

Helena can be seen as a rude, arrogant spoiled brat at times because of her rich-girl lifestyle. She's lived her whole life being told she was better than everybody and she acts just like she is. However she is very caring to the people who dare to come close to her and loves talking to people. She's quite popular in school despite her attitude and her northern family members treat her like a little princess. To friends she is honest and loyal and will do anything to take care of them.

History

Family background: Helena’s great grandmother, Trudy, came to Gateway City after her mistress died during the 1850s, a few years before the Civil War. Because her mistress taught her skills in reading, writing and arithmetic, treating her as the child she could never have, Trudy got a job as a secretary. She had an affinity for reading, especially reading books on mythology. When she went to change her last name she ended up changing it to Odyssey. It was something different, interesting, a name that was her’s and her’s only. She ended up not marrying yet adopted a young boy named Joseph.

Fast-forward 30 years later Paris Odyssey is a singer at a well-known speakeasy in Gateway during the mid 1920s. During this time he fell in love with a beautiful prostitute with green eyes and curly hair. With her pimp’s blessing he started married her and ended up impregnating her. In 1926 Helena Odyssey was born. For the next few years Paris’ life was amazing and fun, even though he lived in a small apartment with a little girl and a wife, nothing was better. With the money he was getting from singing he began inventing a Jukebox with many different features. His life was perfect.

Then came the depression. Speakeasies closed and jobs for young black entertainers disappeared. He barely had the money to support his family and his inventing and when his wife was killed by a customer in 1932 his life went to hell. What was his purpose anymore? Why was he even trying to do anything? He lost all of his passion for anything, even inventing, and he was on the brink of homelessness until 1934.
One day when he tried to put his jukebox invention in the trash a man saw it and was interested in it’s capabilities. The man promised to help Paris get on his feet if he could create more versions of the Jukebox. This man was part of a program created by the U.S. government called “The Inventor’s Plan” to donate money to young inventors and a free patent for them. More inventors meant more industry, more factories and more jobs. By 1936 The ODYSSEY Jukebox and Radio was a hit in houses, bars, clubs, stores, restaurants, diners, and even schools all around the nation. With the money he made off the Jukebox Paris made a Record Label for up and coming black singers to get their time in the limelight and a radio station full of black singers. Paris was, and is, a light in the black community. Still, for a long time Paris hid his daughter from the eyes of the public until her 12th birthday, where they saw the beautiful child for the first time. This is where the story starts.

General history: Helena was her father’s little secret. The world knew that Paris Odyssey had a child, yet they didn’t know anything about them besides the fact that it liked inventing and was probably a girl. Even before his fame Paris kept his daughter hidden to the world and would go everywhere she would. She didn’t go outside for anything besides going to school. Helena only cares about her education and inventing for the most part and only has a few friends. Boys are intimidated by her arrogance and intelligence and girls find her bratty, but she could care less. She’s not going to act like she is anything less than perfect for some friends.

Schooling: Helena was tutored by a well-known inventor and scientist from the time she turned 9 and she still is tutored during the story. This scientist also tutors some of her best friends, so it’s almost like school just without annoying people.