Can't Get Enough

As most people know I am a HUGE Harry Potter Fan.  I re-read the books every summer and I have blogged about them multiple times.  If that's not enough to prove it to you, take a look at the lanyard I wear everyday at school.

So when the librarian at my school announced that she had new short stories by J.K. Rowling I ran down there and checked it out before the kids got to it (don't worry I plan on returning the book in a timely manner so all the kids can get a chance too-that's just good library etiquette).

The book is The Tales of Beedle the Bard and it combines two of my absolute favorite things, fairy tales and the wizarding world.  While muggles are taught Hansel and Gretel, wizard children grow up hearing The Wizard and the Hopping Pot and The Warlock's Hairy Heart.  Of course the last tale is the most famous, The Tale of the Three Brothers (critical information for the final Harry Potter book).

These tales are exactly what you would think them to be.  Short, masterfully written, entertaining yet thought provoking fables.  What makes them even better is the premise that these have been translated from ancient runes into modern English by none other than Hermione Granger.  As a bonus Dumbledores notes on each of the tales are also provided.

If you're also a Harry Potter fan and are looking for a quick afternoon read (say it's, I don't know, a holiday weekend?) I definitely recommend The Tales of Beedle the Bard. 

Learning from tales...that's kids stuff. 

A New Medium

I must admit that many reading teachers are under a little biased against comic books or graphic novels (I must also admit that I'm still not sure what the difference is between a comic and a graphic novel).  Somehow these books aren't considered to be as meaningful as more standard forms of literature.

Yet I have stated many times on this blog that any book that gets students to read is a good book.  Graphic novels were never something I had gotten into but I wasn't against them.  

Yesterday a friend of mine offered to loan me one of his comics thinking I would like it.  I told him that would be perfect since graphic novels were a genre I was looking to learn more about.  It was then that I learned my first lesson. Graphic novels are not a genre, they are a medium.  Like novels, comics can be sci fi or fantasy or even non-fiction.  

My first foray into this new medium was Noelle Stevenson's Nimona  Man have I been missing out!!  I don't have enough words to say how fabulous this was.  I love that the story is told through words and pictures (duh, who doesn't love a good picture). Reading through it I thought of so many mini lessons I could do.  How does the author indicate a flashback?  Character thoughts/emotions? Setting? Soo cool.  

Then there's the story itself.  Nimona is definitely a fantasy, which we all know I love.  It even has a dragon...but not like you would think.  The whole story is not like you would think.  There's a villain who plays by the rules.  A sidekick who is sooo much more than what she seems (I want to say more but...spoilers).  And a hero with a deceitful past.

I feel like I am rambling but that's because there's so much I want to say!!  You know what?  Just read  it for yourself, just do it.  And if there are any reading teachers reading this make sure you put some graphic novels in your classroom libraries.  They absolutely deserve to be there!! 

Exploring a new medium...that's kids stuff.  

Is that Really it?

When any series comes to an end it's natural to think, "is that really it?"  Sometimes it's because Hollywood movie franchises have taught us that even if it really felt like an ending, there may still be another installment in the series. Sometimes it's because we weren't satisfied with the ending and are secretly hoping there will be more.  And still other times it's because we just don't believe it's over.

That's how I felt after reading The Last Olympian, the final book in the Percy Jackson series.  As I'm sure you can guess this is the biggest battle of the series and it requires all the skill and courage our young heroes have.  We finally see what happens with Luke, we figure out what's so weird about that Rachel girl, and we get to see what happens to Percy and Annabeth.   A lot of things are resolved and it does say the final book in the series.  But I'm just not sure that it's over.

You see Percy is still a demi-god.  There are still monsters, and gods and titans.  He is still the son of one of the big three.  It can't really be over.  He's gonna face more monsters, there are gonna be more fights, camp half blood is always gonna be sending new heroes on quests.

So I guess I was dissatisfied with this ending because I can't picture Percy having a "happily ever after,' but I also can't picture what monster he will have to face next.  So i'm stuck in some kind of limbo. Maybe if you are more familiar with the Greek Myths you will have better luck picturing Percy's future adventures. Don't misunderstand, the book was still excellent a great addition to the series.  It's that 'final' part I'm having trouble with.

Saving Olympus...that's kids stuff.  

I'm Just Gonna Leave this Here

In the 4th book of the Percy Jackson series, The Battle of Labyrinth Percy and gang have to battle a sphinx.

If you are familiar with mythology you know that the sphinx will ask you a riddle and if you answer correctly you are deemed worthy and are allowed to pass.  If you answer incorrectly you die (hey, nobody said being a hero was easy).  As a daughter of the goddess of wisdom Annabth is very excited to challenge the sphinx. But it doesn't quite go as planned.  I don't know if Riordan meant this to be a critique of standardized testing but I'm just gonna quote it here and leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions.

"Welcome, Annabeth Chase!...Are  you ready for your test?"

"Yes", she said.  "Ask your riddle."

"Twenty riddles, actually!"  The sphinx said gleefully..."Oh, we've raised our standards!  To pass you must show proficiency in all twenty.  Isn't that great?"..."what is the capital of Bulgaria?" 

"Sofia," she [Annabeth] said, "but-"

"Correct!... Please be sure to mark your answer clearly on your test sheet with a number 2 pencil...Make sure you bubble each answer clearly and stay inside the circle...If you have to erase, erase completely or the machine will not be able to read your answers..." 

"These aren't riddles," Annabeth said. 

" What do you mean?" The Sphinx snapped. "Of course they are . This

"It's just a bunch of dumb random facts," Annabeth insisted.  "riddles are supposed to make you think."  

test material is specially designed-"

"Think"  The Sphinx frowned, "How am I supposed to test whether you can think? That's ridiculous!  Now, how much force is required-"

"Stop!" Annabeth insisted. "This is a stupid test...I am a child of Athena and thi sis an insult to my intelligence.  I won't answer these questions."  

At this point Percy and crew have no choice but to destroy the test machine and try to fight their way past the sphinx.  To which the Sphinx says, 'My grading machine!  I can't be exemplary without my test scores!"

Being exemplary...that's kids stuff.  

The Plot Thickens

**Warning Spoilers**

In The Titan's Curse we see the continuing adventures of the young hero Percy Jackson.  And like any other human being your adventures only get more complicated as you grow up.  Sorry, being the son of Poseidon does not give you a free pass from the perils of adolescence. Oohh, really sorry, it actually does the opposite.  Because in addition to all the normal teenage problems you also have terrifying monsters, titans threatening to rise again, and now all the gods of Olympus are on your back because of a prophecy that hints you may end up destroying them.

And as if that wasn't enough you also have to try and get along with Thalia, daughter of Zeus; try to maintain your relationship with Annabeth, daughter of Athena while she is hung up over the betrayal of Luke, son of Hermes, all while rescuing two new half bloods of unknown parentage.

Then we get a whole new cast of characters as we meet the goddess of the hunt Artemis and her maiden hunters.  Turns out Artemis loves recruiting half-bloods, only the maidens of course, so that's a whole new wrinkle to deal with.

Good thing Percy is a hero, he's gonna need all the help he can get.

Finding your place...that's kids stuff.

Water

I love the water.  My whole life I have been drawn to the water.  When I feel restless or unsettled, water calms me down.  When my husband and I took a vacation on Mackinac Island I felt like my soul was at peace.  To constantly be in sight of the water was heavenly.

So I feel a special connection with Percy Jackson.  His father is god over the seas, so Percy has special powers when it comes to water.  He can see and breath underwater.  He can control the currents. The water heals his injuries and restores his energy.  Finally, Percy is a natural born sailor and he instinctively knows what coordinates he is at anytime he is in the water.

As someone who loves the water, can swim for hours and feels like water restores my energy, it makes me wonder...maybe I'm related to the sea god....

Of course I'm not, and of course this is fantasy.  But that's what the best fantasy books do.  You connect in such a way that just for a minute you wonder...maybe there's something magical about me too...

The Sea of Monsters has all of the things I loved about The Lightening Thief, plenty of references to Greek and Roman myths and monsters, a modernizing of the ancient gods, new heroes and new quests.  It's just a great series.  They are books you enjoy reading and want to read more of.

Finding your magic...that's kids stuff.  

Monsters and Gods and Heroes, oh my!

A few years ago I did a brief blog post about the Percy Jackson series.  Read it here.  But I was more just introducing the series, there weren't any real details.  Now that I have a new feature that highlights book series I figured it was time to give each book in the series a little attention.

As my previous post mentioned, in college I minored in history.  As part of that I spent a semester studying abroad in Athens, Greece.  That's probably why I feel a special connection to the gods of Mount Olympus.  Percy Jackson, aside from being a spectacular YA fantasy series that effortlessly weaves in historical legend, is modern myth.  It's awesome!!

Young Percy, well Perseus-but what modern New Yorker would go by that name-has always had weird things happen to him.  He lives with his mom, who is wonderful, and his gross stepdad, who Percy calls Smelly Gabe.  Percy has ADHD and a knack for getting into trouble, which is why he goes to a new school every year-he keeps getting kicked out.

Eventually there is too much weird stuff to ignore and Percy learns the truth.  His dad is a god, like one of the gods of Mount Olympus.  Which makes Percy half god, half mortal-a half blood.  He makes his way to Half-Blood Camp where he finds lots of other demi-gods just like him...well maybe not just like him.  There Percy is trained in swordplay, greek mythology, and all the other things young heroes need to know.  Eventually he gets the chance to prove himself...a quest of his own.

Will he succeed?  Will things ever go back to normal?  Which god is his father?  What are the limits to Percy's new-found powers?  Guess you'll just have to read the book.

Proving yourself...that's kids stuff.  

At the End

As a person of faith The Chronicles of Narnia have extra meaning to me, but I also believe they are great stories for anyone to read.  For me, The Last Battle is the most moving and powerful of all the Narnia books, so for today's post I pulled out some of my favorite quotes.  I believe these quotes are meaningful for anyone, but it's quite possible someone who doesn't share my beliefs may read these quotes and think, 'what's the big deal?"  My hope is that they are reassuring and thought-provoking.

A bit of background for our first quote.  Things have gone very badly and people are following a false leader.  When the true king appears not all of his subjects return to him.  Then this happens.  "Every single Talking Dog in the whole meeting (there were fifteen of them) came bounding and barking joyously to the King's side...they were just as doggy as could be...they all stood up and put their front paws on the shoulders of the humans and licked their faces, all saying at once: 'Welcome! Welcome! We'll help, we'll help help help"   (how could you not love dogs??) 

"'Yes,' said the Lord Digory. 'Its inside is bigger than its outside.'  'Yes,' said Queen Lucy.  'In our world too, a stable once had something inside that was bigger than our whole world.'"

"'You see,' said Aslan. 'They will not let us help them  They have chosen cunning instead of belief.  Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out."  

In this passage some people are allowed through the door into Aslan's country but some are not.  "Eustace even recognized one of those very Dwarfs who had helped to shoot the Horses. [the dwarf had done Eustace believed to be wrong] But he had no time to wonder about that sort of thing (and anyway it was no business of his) for a great joy put everything else out of his head."  

Here a man has been a servant of a different God, Tash, but he is still allowed into Aslan's country. The man asked Aslan if he is allowed in because Aslan and Tash are really the same god.  Aslan answers saying, "It is false.  Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him.  For I and he are of such differetnt kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him." 

"Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days.  Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless they desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly.  For all find what they truly seek."  

"I have come home at last!  This is my real country! I belong here.  This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now."

Coming home...that's kids stuff.