The choices, preferences, experiences, and particular strengths and weaknesses of a given book’s creators will unavoidably shape its presentation of the Latin language. Any and every introductory text will have a bias of some sort or other.
The good news is that there’s something for everyone. There are books for folks who want or need lots of help, there are versions for those who just want to engage the plain Latin text. If you’re somewhere in between, well, you’re covered too.
So, in the end, the big question is this: do the strengths of the exclusive focus on Ovid outweigh the drawbacks? On the whole, I think they do . . . with conditions.Â
Phaedrus, it seems, had high expectations for children’s literary understanding.  Or maybe, as A.A. Milne does in his Winnie the Pooh stories, he wanted to throw in a little something for the benefit of the adults who do the actual reading.Â
And what, you may wonder, are the strongest features? Glad you asked.  As is the case with the first book in this series, clarity and thoroughness are the strengths of Jenney’s Second Year Latin.
The Latin language is a little bit (just a little) like the alien language from the film. At least it is from the perspective of us speakers of Modern English.
This package provides brief descriptions of all the main uses of the subjunctive in Latin, along with helpful explanations of how context clues in the sentence can help you understand what a particular subjunctive form is trying to tell you.
With Caesar as teacher, we can be his co-teachers.  We can help our students see and feel the drama in his narrative.
Julius Caesar as Storyteller? Well, yes. We remember Caesar as many things: general, tyrant, reformer of the calendar and, yes, author.  But how often do we give him credit for his virtuosity in spinning yarns?
The bottom line is that Latin for the New Millennium does at least reasonably well in all five categories, and better than reasonably well in most.  It’s a five tool player.Â