March 29, 2024

28 in my 2011 book blogging challenge.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is not one book but five: The Lightening Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian.

Despite the fact that each book is 300+ pages, and I’ve just read the whole set, I’ve decided to count the set as one book in my reading challenge. I’m trying to balance things out. These are children’s books. I figure if I alternate between counting children’s books individually and counting them as sets, I’ll come out about right. Plus, I actually read The Lightening Thief several years ago and have re-read it this week. I didn’t want to cheat and count a re-read on my challenge.

I’ve been on a Rick Riordan marathon this week. You might recall that I blogged about his Kane Chronicles series a few days ago. This is what I’ve been doing since I finished up my semester– reading children’s fantasy novels. I recommend the practice for times when relaxation is direly needed.

There are now only two remaining Riordan books for children that I have not read. Give me a few days, and I’ll get back to you on them.

In my Kane Chronicles response, I stressed the idea that these books are for middle school kids and shouldn’t be judged by the standards of fantasy novels written with adult audiences in mind. I held firm to that idea through most of the Percy Jackson series. The books are for kids, and I only enjoy them because I’ve never grown up. That I believe, but somewhere toward the end of the Percy Jackson books, some small fragments of the grown up in me were won over. Individually, the books are for kids, but the overarching themes that hold them all together as a series are actually developed enough to hold the attention of an adult. Plus, the last two books are darker, more intense, and even more thought-provoking.

If you are willing to stick it out with Percy as a young hero through to the 4th and 5th books, I believe you’ll decide in the end that he was worth your adult time. Meanwhile, I would consider all 5 books appropriate to give to my 10-year-old nephew to read, which I actually intend to do. Happy Christmas-in-May, buddy. I have a new stack of books for you next time I’m in town.

This is the series that started Rick Riordan on the path of bringing ancient mythologies to life for modern-day kids. The old Greek gods are still kicking around, you see, and still up to their old habits of having mortal children with spectacular powers. Percy Jackson finds out soon after he blows up his pre-algebra teacher (who as we’ve all suspected is actually a demon from Hades) that he is a demigod, the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.

Percy has great power, at least when he is around water, and he also has the requisite great responsibility. There’s this prophecy about him, you see. He’s either going to save the world or destroy the world, and no one knows which. Thus, no one knows whether to train him or kill him, and no one has time to decide because he is faced with one adventure after another in which he’s the only person who can solve an immediate problem that impacts everyone else.

Percy runs across every creature from Greek mythology on his adventures, and he does so while drinking root beer, eating pizza, and worrying about girl trouble. He’s a typical kid if you overlook the fact that at one point he accidentally erupts Mount St. Helens when he calls to the sea to help him out of a tight spot.

Percy faces any number of challenges, some of mythological proportions and some of the sort any everyday kid faces on a regular basis. He learns lessons that can apply to anyone’s life, lessons about friendship and family and trust and the importance of working together and acknowledging each other’s contributions. He’s presented with tough choices, and he struggles in very human ways to make the right choices. He learns lessons that anyone of any age needs to learn.

Percy also gives us an excellent introduction to Greek mythology. I teach the classics of Greek literature, but I’ve never been so clear on the relationships between various gods and goddesses and the nature of various creatures as I am after reading these books. Riordan weaves his stories of the Greek gods out and about in modern-day America in a manner that makes it very easy to remember who they are, what their gifts are, and what their places are in the pantheon.

I personally hope that all kids read the Percy Jackson books by the time they are 12 or 13 so that they will understand what they are reading when assigned Homer and other Greek writers later on. That may not be the ultimate magic formula for success in English classes, but it couldn’t hurt.

I’m glad I’ve spent my week with Percy Jackson. I expected to like the books but not be overwhelmed by them. They are written for kids, after all. In the end, I may not have been completely overwhelmed, but I did like them a good bit more than anticipated. Well done, Rick Riordan. Well done.

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