As
a 35 year old, the Young Adult genre exploded after ‘my time’. I
remember reading The Babysitter Club series and then going straight to
Stephen King’s IT. Not that I haven’t read entertaining Young Adult or
Children’s’ books, they just don’t capture my attention like Adult books
do. I’ll admit to being enthralled with Harry Potter, but really who wasn’t.
It’s rare for me to even entertain the prospect of reading a
children’s book, but over the past few months my interest has been
piqued..
I
read a review about ‘Wonder’ by RJ Palacio. The subject matter and the
rave reviews alone were what made me pick up this children’s book. I
read the book, and it was AMAZING. I suggested it to my friends as a
matter of fact. If you’re interested in knowing my full thoughts on this
book, please see my December review of it.
Working
in a library has some good perks. One of them is seeing new books
coming in. Hey, how do you think I read The Casual Vacancy as soon as
it came in? A few months ago a new book came to the library called The
Mark of Athena. Again, it was a children’s book and I didn’t pay much
attention to it. However, kids were coming to the library in a frenzy
looking for this new book. I hadn’t seen this kind of commotion since
Harry Potter, what is this book? I asked the Youth Services Librarian
what Mark of Athena was. Excitedly she told me that it’s the third
installment of the Heroes of Olympus series. Rick Riordan, you know the
guy who wrote Percy Jackson?!?!?! I nodded, but had never heard of the
author. Percy Jackson sounded familiar...it was a movie I think.
So
when I decided to create this list of 100 books, I thought what the
heck I’ll add the first book of the series. We’ll see what all the fuss
is about. My library had the first in the series, so I checked it out.
The
Lost Hero is book one in the series of the Heroes of Olympus. One of
the best things about children’s books is they take no time at all to
read. Which is great when a book has a fun, fast-paced story line, as
this one does.
The
story starts with Jason, awaking from a dream in which he had just been
struck by lightning, on a school bus full of strangers. The problem
is, they all seem to know Jason. He has no memory of the school bus or
of the ‘friends’ who are asking him if he’s alright. The headmaster of
the bus, or Coach, eyes Jason up suspiciously. The bus is full of
ruffians and deviants. All children shipped off to boarding school. He
assumed he did something wrong, but can’t remember what it was.
The
bus stops at it’s destination. The Grand Canyon. The children go off
into groups to explore the Canyon. After a few moments, things start to
go wrong. A storm is brewing. A nasty black cloud appears just above
them. That can’t be good. The children run for safety, and all of them
make it. That is except for Jason and two of his friends - Piper and
Leo. So why are the three of them sectioned off from the other group of
kids? Because they are special. Demi-God special, and they have
enemies.
The
kids, however, don’t know they are Demi-Gods. But, that’s not 100%
true. Jason seems to know, reflexively, that his coin turns into a
sword and he can control winds - or aka he can fly. He somehow knows
he’s more than human, but he doesn’t know how he knows it. While
fighting the storm spirit, rescuers come through the sky to aid the
Demi-Gods. Oh and by the way, Coach is a satyr.
They
are taken to Camp Half Blood, a safe place where Demi-Gods live, to
discover Hera has been taken hostage and all heck is breaking loose.
Jason seems to understand what’s going on albeit vaguely. Piper and
Leo have no idea what’s going on, yet aren’t freaked out when they find
out they are the children of Olympus Gods. Oh, and there are plenty of
dream prophecies throughout the book to keep it interesting.
I’m being a little flippant, but in truth the book is good. There are obvious, I’ll call them loopholes, where the kids quickly adjust to their new Demi-God status and their new powers. But there are twists and turns and a fast-paced storyline. I won’t be rushing off to get the sequels, but I’ll read them eventually.
