The Red Pyramid

Young Adult fiction by Rick Riordan

This guy is on fire.  He writes a book a year and is in his third successful series of young adult fiction about ancient gods. This is the second series, focusing on Egyptian mythology (you probably got that from the title). It's a quick, fun, action-packed read, and I love that it's giving kids background knowledge about ancient cultures. The retention level of the details, though? Mine is pretty low so I imagine it will be hard for the kids to remember the different gods and myths.

Here's what I think it so great about these books: not only do they open up a new world for the kids (history is cool? no way) but they really validate kids as kids. You might not think that from the very adult adventures the characters have. I mean, as 12 and 14 year olds they battle monsters and race across the continents and oceans. But the kids (Sadie and Carter in this series, Percy in the others) are like many kids I know. They don't love school-type activities but are interested in learning about...well, what interests them.  They talk about how easily distracted or openly rebellious they are and see it as a gift of the gods, heightened senses and ability to question what they see and all that. I mean, these attributes aren't cause for celebration in the classroom necessarily, but they are true of kids this age and something parents and teachers need to work with, not around. Makes me a little more compassionate on my ADHD students this year (if only one would stop saying "GAW!" every time I redirect him.)

Interestingly, I haven't heard ANY uproar about these books like the Harry Potter series. Is it out there, do you know? Because Harry Potter was just magic, and pretend magic at that, but these books are about magic and other gods. Are any parents or churches complaining that these books guide kids to other religions? I hope not. It's history, and it's fun.

The House at Riverton

Historical Fiction by Kate Morton

So you know I'm obsessed with "Downton Abbey" and I loved the book "American Heiress" because it let me re-enter that world through a brand new story. Well, this one is even more similar to Downton. At first. And then it all gets...sad. And before I go on, I just have to say that if "Downton Abbey" doesn't have a happy ending (whenever, gasp, the series must end), I will be sending some not-so-delicately worded emails to some BBC people.

But back to Kate Morton. She also wrote The Distant Hours, which I mostly enjoyed, though it was creepy and a bit confusing at times. This one has a lot of similarities and is actually, I think, better written, despite being Morton's first book. The House at Riverton occurs around World War I rather than World War II, but is also about a great house in the English countryside, codependent sisters, forlorn love, and a narrator who reminisces about the past. I know Morton has a third book out, something about a garden, which is probably pretty similar as well. She's clearly developed her own genre.

What I loved about this book is what I love about Downton Abbey: the interactions of the staff and family, the angst of WWI and the 1920's and women's lib, crotchety old matriarchs, glamorous dresses, catchy tunes (right down to "If you were the only boy in the world, and I were the only girl")...it's all so charming. If life didn't suck for women, gentility and working class alike, I may say it was the golden age. And I suppose that's why it has a mostly sad ending--the women had so few choices in their lives. One character rises above the rest to make herself happy, but it takes 68 years and is the exception rather than the norm.

One thing I'm thinking about is the intense amount of foreshadowing. As a, ahem, writer, I wonder how much is too much before it's no longer serving its purpose of intriguing the reader and preparing the way for future plot events. All the "But we didn't know yet how horrible that night would be" and "This was before the west wing burned" and so on--it IS suspenseful but maybe a little irritating too. Like the TV show "How I Met Your Mother." Just tell us about the yellow umbrella already.

I've already started reading my next book, The Red Pyramid, first in another mythology series by the same author as the Percy Jackson books. I was in the children's section of the library with my kids and had to have something to read while my son stacked endless series of blocks. Plus, my students are starting to know more about Egyptian mythology than I do, so I'd better catch up.