The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid introduces readers to Carter and Sadie Kane.  Fourteen-year-old Carter is home-schooled by his professor father as they travel the world studying ancient Egypt.  His sister, twelve-year-old Sadie, lives in London with her maternal grandparents.  Carter and Sadie see each other two days a year, one visitation day in both winter and summer.  The book begins on Christmas Eve, winter visitation day, as Carter and his father arrive late to see Sadie.  Dr. Julius Kane has arranged a Christmas visit to the Egyptian Collection at the British Museum.

Readers, and the Kane siblings, quickly realize that there’s more to Julius Kane than an advanced Egyptian education when their visit to the museum ends with an explosion, magical appearances, a fiery man making threats, and their father trapped inside a sarcophagus.  Later they learn that their father’s actions at the museum have released five ancient gods, two of which have taken up temporary residence inside Carter and Sadie.

The next 500 pages are mostly a sprint from death-defying explosions to attacks by mythical creatures to trips to the land of the dead to a run-in with an evil Elvis jumpsuit.  (Really, no kidding.)  Along the way are numerous lessons on ancient Egypt.  There are pharaohs and gods, legends and rules, and magical methods transportation.  Carter knows bits and pieces from traveling with his father, but Sadie learns at the same pace as readers do - only as other characters explain the details to the Kane siblings.

I’m torn on which direction this review should go, so rather than pick a side (while relaxing on Christmas vacation, no less), I’m going to stay right here comfortably riding the fence, give both sides, and let readers decide.

I have three (and a half) concerns with the first book of Rick Riordan’s new Kane Chronicles series:

1. At 516 pages, it is unnecessarily long.
2. My lack of background knowledge on ancient Egypt had me trying to keep all the gods and legends and rules straight rather than focus on the main characters’ and plot’s development.  At least with The Lightning Thief I had some knowledge of Greek mythology to draw from.
3. It was easy to miss the changes in narrators between Carter and Sadie every couple chapters.
4. (only half a concern) It requires readers to suspend their disbelief more than the average fantasy novel, but that’s less of a problem with young readers who are generally more eager to do so than grown-ups.

Now, a number of my students have read The Red Pyramid, and based on my observations and conferences with them, here’s how my concerns have translated to young readers:

1. Doesn't matter.  More of a good thing.
2. Doesn't matter.  Most kids have little knowledge of Greek mythology, too.
3. Doesn't matter.  Kids apparently pay more attention to chapter headings.
4. Doesn't matter.  Suspension of disbelief.  Not a problem.

I’m pretty sure I would have recommended this book to students regardless of my personal feelings.  The Red Pyramid moves at an incredible pace with each chapter offering readers another hair-raising adventure and there’s magic and battles galore.  Rick Riordan knows the formula to keep readers reading.  High action, flying-fast pace, amazing escapes, brave battles, and a sequel to come.

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

After returning home for the school year, Percy Jackson finds himself at Meriwether College Prep, another new school, with a hulking new classmate named Tyson, who, despite his six-foot-three frame, is a big softie. Percy and Tyson are each other’s only friends. Meriwether is a “progressive” school, which simply means, according to Percy, there are beanbag chairs instead of desks and no grades.

The school year seems to be going fine. Seems to be, anyway, until uninvited guests show up for gym class and start firing flaming bronze cannonballs. That’s the sort of thing that happens when you are the son of the sea god - half mortal, half god, and not really part of either world.

After escaping and meeting up with Annabeth, she gives Percy and Tyson the details about events at Camp Half-Blood. Thalia’s tree, part of the magical border that protects Camp Half-Blood, has been poisoned. The tree is dying and along with it, the camp’s magical protection. Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson set off on a quest for the Golden Fleece. The Fleece’s magic powers of healing may just bring health back to Thalia’s tree.

Meanwhile, Percy’s satyr friend, Grover, has set off as a searcher hoping to be the first satyr to find Pan. His search has led him into danger, and only a wedding dress, falsetto voice, and his enemy’s horrible vision and sub-par mental capacity have kept him alive. An empathy link between Grover and Percy is formed, allowing them to communicate over great distances, but it also endangers the other. If one of them is killed, the other will die as well.

Percy’s quest brings him, Annabeth, and Tyson closer to both the Golden Fleece and imprisoned Grover. The quest also takes them directly through the Sea of Monsters. Everything should be against them – Percy’s father and Annabeth’s mother, Poseidon and Athena, dislike one another and Tyson is a Cyclops, and nobody likes Cyclops. But in the end, friendships, both old and new, remain strong, and Tyson proves himself a loyal friend (and more).

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I must admit only a passing interest in Greek mythology in, what was it, sophomore English? Okay, I get it. There are references to it in real life. There was a Zephyr filling station on the west side, out of business and in disrepair, but by golly, I recognized the reference to Greek mythology.

Of course there are others, and I recognize most of them (except the ones I don’t recognize, which means maybe don’t recognize most of them, but then again…yeah, whatever.) Get to the point.

Here’s the point: My passing interest is now alive and growing. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan brought back a lot of the stories I (vaguely) remember and gave them a whole new life. Perceus – Percy – Jackson is a kid who, due to a combination of ADHD and dyslexia and family history, gets himself kicked out of schools. Six of them in six years. In chapter one readers meet Percy, his gimpy best friend Grover, and a teacher, Mr. Brunner, who constantly pushes Percy to learn his Latin and Greek mythology.

Continuing chapter one, on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, another teacher, Mrs. Dodds, transforms to a “shriveled bat with wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs” and is about to kill Percy beside the marble frieze of Greek gods. Mr. Brunner appears, tosses Percy a pen which amazingly becomes a sword, and after the former Mrs. Dodds says, “Die, honey!” Percy does the only thing he can do. Slice her through the middle. She vaporizes, the sword is a pen again, and nobody else even has a clue what happened.

Uh, what?

Mysteries are eventually explained as readers, and Percy, learn he is a half-blood, son of a god and a human. There are attacks from monsters, introductions to the gods and other mythical characters and locations, an explanation of how these characters continue to escape notice from humans, and even mythologically accurate swearing (“Oh, Styx!”). Mount Olympus is up 600 floors in the Empire State Building, and Hades is beneath Los Angeles. (Well, how about that? The City of Angels. Hades. Seems appropriate, yet ironic.)

Upon arriving at Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods, Percy learns that Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen. Other gods are accused, including Percy’s father, schemes form, and an all-out war between the gods seems imminent if Zeus’s bolt is not returned by the summer solstice. Percy is sent on a quest with Grover, now known to be a satyr, and Annabeth, daughter of Athena, to find and return the stolen bolt.

There are currently four books in the Olympians series, with a fifth one planned for spring of 2009. Having only finished one and a half, I can’t fully comment on the series as a whole. I can say, however, that if all the books have the same excitement and adventure, this is a series that will continue to absorb readers.

Finally, thanks to Anonymous for recommending the books in his/her comments.

The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues) by Rick Riordan

Ignore, for a moment, the fact that there are trading cards and websites and games and prizes all associated with The 39 Clues. Pay no mind to the kids who might spend as much time, if not more time, studying the cards and entering and deciphering codes and wondering what the heck is up with Nessie Lives (look closely at the copyright page).

Okay, just kidding. Don't ignore that stuff. First of all, when the cards, game, prizes, website, and $100,000 are all mentioned on the front and back covers, you can't ignore them. But second, and I'll admit it here, but only in small font: that stuff is kinda cool. And I'm not saying it again. It sounds sort of blasphemous to a reading teacher. But facts is facts.

The Maze of Bones follows Amy and Dan Cahill, members of the most power family in world history. Every important event in world history has been orchestrated by someone from one of the four branches of the Cahill Clan. When Grace Cahill dies, her will dictates that 40 family members may take $1 million or participate in a contest to track down 39 clues and become the most powerful Cahill ever. Despite no financial resources and no adult assistance, Amy and Dan burn up their $1 million checks and start the competition ... by nearly dying in a house fire. (Unrelated to their burning checks. Just saying.)

Their quest takes them to the library (of course), Philadelphia, Paris, another library (woo-hoo!), and underground. They nearly die (this is just top-of-the-head recall, now) three times - in the aforementioned house fire, getting lost underground, and being buried in wet cement. Wait! Four times! There's a bomb too. There's probably more, but I'm moving on.

Amy and Dan encounter invisible ink, maps, codes, anagrams, diagrams, and signs in foreign languages. They are instructed to trust no one. Non-stop action, near death experiences and narrow escapes, puzzles and codes (one even hidden in the page numbers) all will draw readers into the book and, indeed, the series. One student of mine hasn't finished the book yet, but he's already registered at The 39 Clues website, has all his cards entered, and has obtained exclusive online cards as well.

Without much effort, here's some pieces I've stitched together. A code in the book says that Anne Cahill did not drown. On the cards included with the book, Nella Chain is listed as a passenger on the Titanic. Here name is an anagram for Anne Cahill. Another card says that a Titanic expert's prize artifact is a cameo from room B77 on the Titanic. Who stayed in room B77? According to the passenger list on another card, it's Nella Chain.

Another admission: I'm registered on the website too. Don't tell my wife. Or my principal.

Know any kids who would get into this? The second book, One False Note by Gordon Korman, will be released in December 2008, and the third book, The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis, soon after in March 2009. Book One author, Rick Riordan, has mapped out the ten-book series, but different authors will write each book.