AUTHOR: Kevin Crossley-Holland

PAGES: 342

When the mysterious, whimsical Merlin presents thirteen-year-old Arthur with a stone that grants him visions of his namesake, the King Arthur of legend, he is spellbound by the parallels between them. King Arthur also began as a humble boy whose one wish in life was to become a squire, and then eventually a knight; one who upholds honor and peace, an instrument of justice. But while Arthur longs for the world he sees in the stone, he also begins to realize that his own life has magic as well. There is magic in the humdrum, every day life on a medieval manor— in the sun breaking over the hill, in the blue line on the horizon that marks the misty borderlands between England and Wales, even in the moments he spends royally failing at jousting. Ultimately, Arthur realizes that the life in the stone may mirror his own, but his destiny is still his to decide.

A different take on the well-loved Arthurian legends, this is the first in a trilogy about young Arthur’s journey through life in medieval England. Instead of following the fantasy route, the author decided to superimpose the day-to-day existence of a young boy on top of the grandiose tales of Britain’s “once and future king.” The result is delightfully refreshing. The books in the series are broken into 100 chapters each, with the chapters providing brief glimpses into Arthur’s life and experiences, and punctuated with the visions in the Seeing Stone. What I liked best about the books is the prose— it is youthful, exultant, almost poetic. It brings the main character’s personality, his thoughts and his dreams, into clear focus. And, rather than using King Arthur and his knights as a template, the author uses the deeds of the Round Table to help his hero define his own life, decide his own values, and make his own decisions, even when they deviate from what he sees as his ideal. A very good book, and since I’m writing this after reading the other two, my favorite of the trilogy.

RATING: 4.5/5

AUTHOR: Roderick Townley

PAGES: 216

When the book is opened, everyone must scramble to their places and everyone must remember their lines. But the first rule, and decidedly the most important, is to never look at the Reader. Sylvie, a veteran at her job of being a storybook princess after being the book’s main character for upwards of 80 years and throughout many Readings and Re-Readings, nevertheless longs for something more. She has lived the same adventure so many times that she can’t help but wonder what lies outside the margins, the printed words and the scenes she has acted out with the others for so long. And so, one momentous day, Sylvie breaks the rules and looks up at the Reader. What follows is an adventure beyond her wildest imagination, unscripted and uncertain. She soon realizes that it’s extremely different to live every day without knowing the ending.

I’ve read a lot of books about people who love to read, but this is probably one of the few books I’ve read which focus on the people actually being read about. This is the story of a cast of characters who live and re-live their story every time someone picks up their book and reads it. Like actors on a stage, they must scramble to their places, remember what to say and when to say it, and throw themselves into every performance. It was an interesting take on things, certainly, and I definitely enjoyed reading the story. I appreciated that, even though Sylvie was a storybook princess in the classical sense, she was by no means classical, even in her original story and even before she broke the rules that led to her further adventures. Sylvie had spirit, courage, and intelligence. No one was going to rescue her, because she could do it herself. The writing and its wry humor, with a play on the traditional fairytale, was a lot of fun for me. I would compare it to The Light Princess, which was another book I enjoyed. Apparently, it’s part of a series of books about Sylvie and her continuing escapades, but I haven’t quite gotten to those yet. While there were parts that were sort of less cohesive than the rest, I still really liked it!

RATING: 3.5/5

AUTHOR: Rick Riordan

PAGES: 381

Normal teenagers probably consider their sixteenth birthday a much less forboding occasion than Percy Jackson does. But then again, most teenagers don’t have to worry about a prophecy coming true as they blow out their candles— a prophecy that could herald them as a hero, or bring death in its wake. The great battle has dawned, ushered in with the wakening of the monster Typhon and the increasing advance of the enemy upon Percy and his allies. While the gods of Olympus are forced to abandon the seat of their power in order to battle Typhon, their children wage war on land and sea to defend what is dear to them. Blood will be spilled, losses will mount, friends will become enemies even as enemies turn out to be friends. For Percy, the stakes are higher than he ever imagined.

Often, the final book in a series is the deciding factor in whether I declare war on the author or cry tears of joy and satisfaction. It is always difficult for me to reach the end, despite my eagerness to find out what happens, because by the time I get to this point in a series I’m usually incurably attached to the characters and can’t bear to see them go. And after reading so many books, I always have this expectation that the LAST book will be the most epic, the most thrilling, the one that will tie everything together and leave me with closure. This doesn’t always happen. Thankfully, The Last Olympian delivered. Percy, so much more grown up since first realizing his heritage (and the first inkling of what his destiny might be) in The Lightning Thief, has come to the point in his adventures where all the preparations, all the effort and toil, the blood that was shed and the friends gained and lost, might all come to nothing. The prospect of defeat, and of death, hangs in the air like a wordless dread. And yet, our boy remains the same at heart, despite the very heavy responsibilities he has been tasked with. And he remains, always, the kind of hero whose compassion characterizes him and everything he does. Percy must fight, has trained to fight, for what he loves. He has been told from the beginning that a prophecy predicting either his glory or his demise has already been spoken. Dodging the hand of fate, forging your own path, can quite easily turn you into a different person. But for Percy, he still believes in the same things, even down to the end: family, friendship, loyalty, courage. And a few crackpot, harebrained schemes thrown in, of course. I truly enjoyed this last book, satisfied immensely by the way Riordan wrapped it up. Not perfectly, not without bloodshed or loss, and not without a sense of realism; Percy watches friends lose their lives for the sake of their cause, he must make decisions with momentous consequences, he must find mercy in his heart when all he wants to do is deliver the killing blow. Percy has to grow up, and deal with everything that growing up brings with it. I felt that he did it beautifully. I was very happy with the ending, which was poignant without being lame in any sense.

The last thing I want to say about these books is that Rick Riordan not only has a fantastic grasp of the mythology he has woven into his stories, but also does this really great job translating that mythology into something relevant to his young readers. Without involving any cliche time travel or plunging Percy and crew into arenas wearing togas, he creates parallels between the Greece of centuries past— once the heart of Western civilization— and the modern setting of New York City, which is the heart of Western civilization today. He gets kids interested in mythology and history without cheapening it or dumbing it down. And for that, I truly appreciate him. Read this series!!

RATING: 5/5

AUTHOR: Rick Riordan

PAGES: 361

Percy Jackson is nervous enough about his freshman orientation without having to deal with demonic cheerleaders and zombies eating Happy Meals. The summer is over, but his troubles certainly aren’t. There’s still the impending war with a Titan lord, the pressing issue of keeping his only safe haven as safe as possible, and the fact that there is actually a monstrously huge labyrinth that he will have to somehow navigate. It is the same labyrinth of legend, devised by the master inventor Daedalus to contain the ferocious minotaur. At the heart of this labyrinth is the enemy himself, gaining strength with every step Percy takes toward him. Every turn brings danger or revelation, and the stakes rise higher and higher as the inevitability of the coming war looms on the horizon. Time is running out.

While this was the installment I liked the least, I’m not saying it isn’t worth reading. For me, the pacing was not nearly as smooth as the previous books, seeming disjointed at times. The quest through the Labyrinth seems endlessly long, tension between allies is difficult to ignore, and there is the overwhelming impatience for the final battle that readers no doubt must contend with. Like the second book in the series, I call this an in-between part of the story. Percy has to get through it to finally reach the other side. I was quite impressed, as I usually am, with Riordan’s incorporation of Greek mythology into Percy’s adventures; he stays true to many things, and even finds small details I would never have expected to be included, such as the fact that a mortal girl led Theseus (the original Labyrinth quester) through the maze designed by Daedalus. A mortal girl indeed leads Percy through the Labyrinth, which added a dimension of adolescent woe to the tale as it becomes clear that Percy will have to deal with young love as well as saving the universe. I guess in a way it’s also a choice between the part of him that is mortal and the part of him that is not. I think that all the huge mess of the Labyrinth kind of cluttered up the focus on these conflicts within Percy, which was a downer for me. But, there is only one book left…

RATING: 3.5/5

AUTHOR: Rick Riordan

PAGES: 312

So what if Percy Jackson still needs a ride from his mom en route to a battle? Big deal. He’s got a pen that transforms into a sword, which I feel largely outweighs such things. Not even a sword and a host of powerful allies can prepare Percy for this next adventure, however, as he and his fellow demigods must race to sway the latest of their number to remain on their side, all while coping with the news that their enemy has finally revealed himself…and he is even more powerful than they ever anticipated. New allies join the battle, while some withdraw as the stakes rise. All the while, Percy continues to live with the fact that the prophecy about his own role in the conflicts to come draws ever nearer as each year brings his sixteenth birthday closer. Which way will the tide turn?

This third book, along with the fifth and final book in the series, are my favorites. In the previous installments, Percy was adjusting to his new life, learning more about his own powers. In The Titan’s Curse, Percy learns that friendship is a powerful thing, but also learns that friendship can be turned against you. Betrayals abound, as allegiances must be drawn and each side vies to marshal its forces. This third book is about trust, loyalty, the ties between people. To what lengths would you be willing to go, for a friend? To what lengths would your friends go for you? Like many heroes, Percy is both cursed and blessed with an inherently good heart; he wants to save everyone, he refuses to leave anyone behind. This is usually what gives the enemy something to use as leverage. The knowledge that Percy would never turn his back on a friend makes his friends primary targets. Also notable in this book, however, is the first time Percy deals with the death of a comrade. I won’t say who, but I will say it made me really sad. In his first encounter with sacrifice, Percy becomes a changed person; in the books to follow, he is slightly more grown up after the events of this book. I liked it mainly for its darker, slightly heavier themes, but it’s not to say that Percy (and his pegasus with its Brooklyn accent) don’t crack me up anymore, because I still laugh. I just like seeing him grow up, too.

RATING: 5/5

AUTHOR: Rick Riordan

PAGES: 279

If you’re a demigod like Percy Jackson, not even a game of dodgeball is without considerable danger. Not that dodgeball isn’t dangerous enough without the addition of cannibalistic giants. So begins the second installment of Percy’s adventures, during which he will discover that the only place where he and others like him are safe has come under dire threat. He will also find himself in the Bermuda Triangle, strapped to the underside of a giant sheep, and caught in a stampede of centaurs wearing shirts that say “PARTY PONIES.”  But hey, all in a day’s work for Percy and crew. Beneath the spirit of adventure, however, is the frightening possibility that they will lose their only safe haven, thereby losing ground in the war that seems to be brewing on the horizon.

Let’s talk about Percy Jackson, shall we? I think one other thing about him that I appreciate is that Percy has AD/HD. As a teacher, I have met so many children with this condition. Have they ever had a hero they could identify with so well? What Rick Riordan has done is provide a hero who is real, who has a condition common to so many of his readers, who lives with a single mom, who has had to deal with behavior issues at school. In a modern world where AD/HD is considered a setback, Riordan equates it to a sign of something more, something positive, something that can not only be lived with but can also be an asset. I know from personal experience, talking to my own students, that this part about Percy’s life is a big reason why they read the books. “I like Percy because he’s a lot like me, I have AD/HD too and I can’t ever concentrate but it doesn’t mean it has to be a bad thing.” Yes, I actually got just about this quote from one of my 4th graders. And it made me realize, Percy’s true appeal to kids is that he is so believable. And if Percy is a hero, then they too can be heroes themselves. All of that being said, maybe I should continue with my book review…hahaha. I liked this second installment a little less than the first book in the series, but it was still worth it. It was, in my opinion, one of those in between books that have to take place in a story. I definitely liked the third book, which is my next review coming up, a lot better because everything that led up to it in Sea of Monsters finally happened. In any case, I’m still telling you to try this series!

RATING: 4/5

AUTHOR: Rick Riordan

PAGES: 375

When mythological beasts and Olympian gods start stalking you around Manhattan, it’s probably a sign that getting kicked out of yet another boarding school is going to be the least of your troubles. Thus is the life of young Perseus Jackson, better known as Percy, whose numerous behavioral problems have gotten him booted out of many a boarding school already at his tender age. He never anticipated that those behavioral problems, random accidents, and strange occurrences throughout his childhood were linked to a greater destiny: he is, it turns out, not entirely human. The father he never knew is none other than a Greek god, he’s about to meet his best friend (so what if he’s half goat!), and there are actually others just like him who find their home in the only summer camp where chariot races and a mummified oracle in the attic are purely commonplace. Needless to say, all of it is quite a shock, but there is no bigger shock for Percy than realizing he actually belongs, after many years of feeling distinctly out of place. But this already tumultuous summer is only the first one. For a prophecy has been told about Percy Jackson— a prophecy that could bring him greatness, or lead to his demise.

Okay, you can shove it, Harry Potter. Run back to Hogwarts and take your emo with you, because Percy Jackson is here and he is on CRACK. HAHAHAHA. Alright, I won’t say that this series is better than Harry Potter, because truly it isn’t. For me, Percy’s right up there beside it, though. While at first it may seem like there are way too many obvious parallels between Harry and Percy, such as the feeling of not belonging, and the strange unexplainable signs of being more than they seem, and the going-away-to-a-special-school bit, and the part about a prophecy, but fundamentally these two heroes are not the same at all. While Harry is moody and often at a loss about what to do without input from his friends (ahem, Hermione), Percy is a born leader who is perfectly okay with charging ahead. Sure, this lands him in a lot of messes, but Percy is straightforward where Harry dithers between decisions. He’s also horribly funny. He views all these sudden changes in his life with both sarcasm and a sense of cheerful acceptance; he totally forgets about such somber things as dignity, sometimes. And it’s okay. Because Percy, after all, is 12 when we meet him. Is a 12 year old going to be able to resist yelling, “SWEEEEEET!!!” when he realizes that he now has command over water, has his very own pegasus, and is allowed to swordfight as part of his academic curriculum? I think not. Which is why I love Percy. He’s genuine. The stakes are no less high for Percy than they are for Harry, but I appreciate how lighthearted these books are. They aren’t as deep, but they are not a replacement for the Harry Potter series either. Besides, I am the biggest Greek mythology nerdwad in existence, OF COURSE I was clamoring to borrow these books from my 4th graders, hahahahaha. Anyway, since I have 4 more book in the series to review, I will continue my explanation of why I like them then… Oh, and don’t watch the movie, whatever you do. I heard it was awful, and you know how I feel about good books that become horrible movies.

RATING: 4/5

AUTHOR: Margaret Mitchell

PAGES: 832

What book, what heroine, could be more iconic of the Antebellum South than Gone With the Wind and its indomitable Katie Scarlett O’Hara? On the eve of the Civil War, we meet a woman whose strength and sheer willpower become both her salvation and her downfall. Scarlett is hardly afraid to do whatever she has to do in order to achieve her means, whether it’s batting her eyelashes at a man or taking a rifle and shooting him in the face. Nevertheless, this novel is not only about the whirlwind force that is Scarlett O’Hara; at its heart, it is about the South as it once was, as no Southerner ever dreamed it would ever be otherwise. It is about sweeping plantations and wraparound porches, about dancing in the Georgia summertime. It is about war and all of its destruction, but also about war and all of its power to bring out the truth about humanity. It is about America at its most divided. It is about love: the deep, binding love for family and for home, as well as the tempestuous, often painful love encountered when Scarlett O’Hara meets her match in Rhett Butler. It is about a people watching everything they know disappearing, a way of life in its death throes on the floor. A true epic, this novel examines, through the victories and defeats of one woman, the very victories and defeats of her native South.

I think the first thing to say about this book is, it took me three tries to get past the first chapter, and this was an effort that spanned several years. I think that all the other times I checked it out, I was too distracted by other things to really get into it. It is not an easy read, and by far not a short one. There are times during its 800+ pages that my stamina waned and I had to put it down for a few days for lighter fare. However, I always returned to it, I guess in the same way Scarlett always returns to Tara, always gravitates toward home. The book is a masterpiece in characterization, especially when it comes to Scarlett O’Hara. I would argue with anyone who said she wasn’t one of the most conflicted, the most brilliantly written, the most irritating, the most inspiring, women in literature. And I say this without even being a huge fan of Scarlett (I know, I know, who isn’t a huge fan of Scarlett…whatever, I’m trying to explain!). Don’t get me wrong— I think that if I had read this book when I was a bit younger, I would have gotten right on board with the Scarlett fan club. It isn’t that I don’t love her, because I do, but I am more of a Melanie fan. You would have to read the book to find out more about Melanie, but suffice it to say that she was half dead with illness and yet still stood at the top of the stairs with her dead brother’s sword in her hand, ready to kill whoever was trying to rob their house. Not that she had to raise that sword, due to Scarlett conveniently shooting the robber in the face, but this is precisely where my conflict lies. I admire Scarlett’s drive, her ruthlessness, because there is a part of me that would probably be the exact same way given the situation. At the same time, I admire Melanie’s will of steel simply because she outwardly does not show how strong she really is. She’s strong in a different way.

But anyway, that paragraph is just one part of why I really loved this book. It is written with so much skill, there is so much power in the words and so much depth to every character. There is no relationship that can be taken at face value, not even relationships that seem easy to figure out at first glance. Just as I love Scarlett for the fire in her eyes, I fear her for the burning determination to take what she wants regardless of what she must destroy to achieve it. Just as I feel the heartbreak of the South at the death of everything it holds dear, I can’t forgive it for the slavery that built its mansions. The book is complicated. So is life. So was the Civil War. There is no better piece of literature to convey this. It was so good, I went on a total Civil War stretch this year hahahahaha. (You’ll see in later book reviews…)

In any case, someday when you feel ready to handle the beast that is Gone with the Wind, DO IT. And when you have finished it, run and pick up the two official sequels/companion novels, as authorized by the estate of Margaret Mitchell: Scarlett and Rhett Butler’s People.

Oh. All this time I didn’t even mention Rhett Butler and my undying love for him. WELL. Make that Selling Point #457. Hahahaha.

RATING: 5/5

AUTHOR: Muriel Spark

PAGES: 160

Unorthodox at best, Jean Brodie is the most controversial teacher at the rather conservative Marcia Blaine School for Girls. Her eccentricity and strong beliefs, combined with her insistence that she is currently in the “prime” of her life, lead her to assemble a close group of her favorite students in an attempt to pass on her knowledge and expertise. Seeking to mold these young women into her ideals, she brings out what she sees as the best in them while also looking at each of them as a personal triumph for herself. Passionate in everything from her attractions to married men, her affairs with other instructors, her blatant disregard for society’s rules and norms, and above all in living at her “prime,” Jean Brodie inspires each of the girls to a nearly cult-like devotion. They would follow her to victory or ruin— but one of them will choose to betray her.

I read this book astonishingly slowly, considering it wasn’t very long. There are some extremely good quotes from it that I ended up not being able to write down thanks to my highly abbreviated reading window at the time, which was approximately 30 minutes while I bolted down lunch and waited to pick up my first graders from the playground. In any case, the story of Jean Brodie’s rise and fall at the hands of her own beloved students is a balance of tedious and intriguing. I found it interesting how she found a spark of something special in each of her favorites, but even then these things about them were not what defined them by the end. It was a testament to the fact that anything can happen in life. Jean Brodie could tell the girls what was special about them, could put them on the path to greatness, but she could not control their feet as they tread upon it. Nor could she have guessed that one of her chosen few would bring her to ruin. In all, an okay book. This is usually how I feel about books that are supposedly classics, so I wasn’t all that surprised. The funny thing is, I actually agreed with a lot of Miss Brodie’s teaching methods, which were definitely more open-minded than was appropriate in the setting of the story. But, there is a reason why they tell you not to pick favorites as a teacher…haha.

RATING: 2.5/5

AUTHOR: Mary Downing Hahn

PAGES: 192

The picture, old and torn, shows two little girls: Ali’s mother and her twin sister, Dulcie. They are standing beside a lake in the summertime, but what draws young Ali’s attention is the fact that there had been a third little girl in the picture. Why was she torn out of it? The mystery remains on her mind as she returns to the same lakeside house where her mother and aunt spent their childhood summers, and it deepens as it seems no one is willing or able to tell her more about the unknown girl. It isn’t until Ali meets the strange, vicious child named Sissy that she begins to understand what she has gotten into: a terrifying story, long hidden in the depths of the idyllic lake where three little girls once played. Except one never made it back home. Or did she?

This book is YA, so while it’s a ghost story, it isn’t the best ghost story ever if you aren’t 12. Hahaha. The thing is, I grew up reading Mary Downing Hahn’s excellent ghost stories (Wait Til Helen Comes, A Time For Andrew) when I myself was 12, and so I picked this one up out of sheer nostalgia. I think I liked her other ones better, though. I didn’t particularly like Ali as a character, and although the setting and the plot was promising, it could’ve been a little bit more fleshed out, even for a YA book. Also, I loathed the ending and how it was all resolved. It was less eerie and more…contrived. If I had been 12 and reading this, I’m not sure it would’ve been a favorite of mine. Her other stories had that element of danger, a sense of the eerie, TIME TRAVEL!, and darker overtones than one would think to look for in the YA section…unlike this one.  That being said though, you should definitely try out Hahn’s other creepy stories, whether you’re 12 or 23. Her stories have substance, memorable characters, and plots that are not usually this lame.

RATING: 2/5