How to use this Page

Add a Comment

Okay, I just finished this book and I loved it!  Iris, Messenger, by Sarah Deming, tells the story of a middle schooler named Iris Greenwold who lives with her mother in Middleville, Pennsylvania.  Iris, like many other protagonists, hates going to school and really doesn't have any friends but she loves daydreaming and does her best to just get through the day avoiding detentions.  Which she is not very good at.  

Add a Comment

Hey, everyone, Carl again. Today's post is a good one to follow Mr. Riordan's interview because we've got pictures from the Heroes program Tuesday about Theseus and the Minotaur, a comment from someone with a name from Greek mythology, and several good book versions of the Theseus Story.

Add a Comment

I'm pleased to announce that two of the four new Play Pages for our Spring 2008 titles are now available on line.

Word searches for both Jukebox and Sally and Dave can now be printed from your computer to create a more interactive way to use these two books, either in the classroom, or at home.

More Play Pages can be found on our website for Benny, Bobbie Dazzler, Half of an Elephant, Jack Russell: Dog Detective, Kali and the Rat Snake, Singing Shijimi Clams, and The Story of Cherry the Pig.

by Utako Yamada

Over the next few weeks, we'll also be updating the site to include Play Pages for Hannah Duck and No! That's Wrong!

Add a Comment

I do love books by Julius Lester.

Day of Tears? Fantastic! I had to read it for a lit conference and was extremely disappointed by the discussion we had on it. No one could get beyond "Gee, Slavery really sucked" to discuss why Lester's tale of it was such a powerful stand out in a sea of stories about the same general subject. No one brought up that it was one of the few stories to really explore the emotional impact instead of the physical one... powerful stuff.

In the hands of a lesser storyteller, The Old African would have been absolutely dreadful instead of being as wonderful as it is.

Most recently, I read Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire. This is classic Greek Myth, but told in a vernacular, Southern African American story telling style.

Because of Lester's great skill, it totally worked and I loved it.

Psyche is beautiful to the point of it being a burden. Cupid is the son of Venus and a total mama's boy. When Venus (who is aging) is jealous of Pysche's incredible beauty, she orders Cupid to poison her with destructive love. (I have to say I was reminded of that exchange in Love Actually "I have say I'm a bit relieved, I thought it was something worse." "Worse than the total agony of being in love?!")

Anyway, of course, Cupid falls in love with her. He enlists Apollo's help. Apollo is not a fan of Cupid, so tells Psyche's father that she will marry a great monster.

In the end, Venus attempts to seek revenge and true love--both Psyche's love for Venus and various other deities' love for Psyche is put to the test.

I know some readers will (and are) annoyed by the storyteller's voice and his meditations on story, beauty, love, and lust, but I really really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the comments on how much work love is. You don't get that truth a lot in YA literature.

Shout out to Bookshelves of Doom for bringing it to my attention.

Now, to catch up on something I read last year, I didn't like Time's Memory nearly as much.

And here's where Lester's genius is more of a burden than a blessing-- I simply expected more from him.

The nyama spirit embodies Nat, a young man who is a slave on a Virginia plantation. He's in love with the Ellen, the plantation owner's daughter. Nat's father is the leader of a bloody slave revolt.

Highly mystical and spiritual, it just didn't work as well as it should have and ultimately left me dissatisfied. However, there is a lot going on in the book, so I would highly recommend it for book discussions.

Another I read at the same time, which won the Coretta Scott King Award is Sharon Draper's Copper Sun.

This is another fantastically written story about slavery. There isn't as much under the surface, but it tells the story of Amari, from her time in Africa through the middle passage and slavery. It also tells of her friendship with Polly, an indentured servant. The two run away--but instead of going North, they go South, to Spanish controlled Florida.

What I really liked about this book was the unflinching look at many things we usually don't see. We usually don't read of the coastal slave castle before being put on the boats, or how other Africans helped round people up to be sold.

We know of, but usually don't see in fiction, the rape of women by lonely sailors every night.

I also really appreciated how nuanced the characters were--there were good people and and bad people and people who were good and bad. Some of the good people where white, some of the bad people were black. Many authors, when telling a story of slavery, go the understandable route of making all white people bad. Or really, really good. Draper writes people as she knows them. No one's all good or all bad. And goodness doesn't fall on color lines.

By doing so, she writes a very accurate and incredible tale of slavery that covers what we learned in history class, and a whole lot more.

Add a Comment

Deming, Sarah. 2007. Iris, Messenger.

The main difference between school and prison is that prisons release you early for good behavior. School lasts about thirteen years no matter how good you are. Also, prison has better food. (1)

When Iris Greenwold turns twelve and receives a copy of Bulfinch's mythology, her world changes dramatically. Imagine going from black and white to technicolor. Clue #1? The book was delivered by a strange boy on a skateboard. (Not your typical UPS or mail man.) Clue #2? The book has a strange and mysterious note. To Iris, on the occasion of her twelfth birthday. Knowledge is power and then Didn't you ever wonder, Iris, what happens to gods when people stop worshipping them? Where do they go? What do they do? (11, 13). Iris attends Erebus Middle School, a place where the teachers are weird and the punishments cruel and unusual. And while typically Iris is a bit of a dreamer--always on the verge of getting detention, she is still your average middle schooler. But Iris is about to witness the incredible as she discovers the wonderfully awful truth about herself. The Greek gods and goddesses? Not dead. The gods and goddesses are alive and living in a small town in Pennsylvania... Sad and prone to melancholy, yes. But far from dead. Her brief encounters with each god and goddess is an opportunity to listen, to learn, to appreciate the stories in a whole new way. For example, Apollo, he's a jazz musician. The loss of his son, Phaethon, has him singing the blues. Well, acting as muse as Iris makes her unexpected debut on stage. Each story is unique. And Deming gets the voices of these gods and goddesses just right.

Iris is a great heroine. She's a daydreamer. She may not have a lot of friends her own age, but she has her own unique way of seeing the world, and a gift for listening and understanding. Deming's writing style is charming and enjoyable through and through. There are so many great lines--observations that ring so true--but I don't want to spoil the plot by quoting them here. (You're just going to have to trust me on this one!)

I really loved this one and I am very happy that Sarah Deming agreed to be interviewed! My interview with her will be posted tomorrow, Monday, October 29th. I think you will enjoy it as she sheds light on Iris, Messenger. So be sure to come back tomorrow and read it!

Another review of Iris, Messenger. (Bookshelves of Doom)

Display Comments Add a Comment

Lester, Julius. 2007. Cupid.

Cupid reminded me of why Julius Lester is so incredible. I had almost forgotten after the torture of his last book, Time's Memory (2006). Just read his opening paragraphs and dare you not to be hooked:

A long time ago, when Time was still winding its watch and Sun was trying to figure out which was east and which was west, there was a king and queen. I don't know what country they were were king and queen of. That information was not in the story when it came down to me. Sometimes, stories don't understand; what may not be important to them is very important to us.
Now I'm sure there are people who can tell this particular story without having a name for the kingdom this king and queen ruled. Jupiter bless them. I guess I'm not that good of a storyteller, because I need a name for the kingdom. I asked the story if it would mind my giving the place a name. It didn't see any harm in it, so I am going to call it the Kingdom-by-the-Great-Blue-Sea.
The story also does not have names for the king and queen. I know they had names, but nobody would say to them, "What's up, Chuck?" or say, "Looky here, Liz," if those happened to be their names. I am in agreement with the story this time. If nobody could use their names, there is no need to have them in the story. As for what the king and queen called each other, they were probably like any other married couple and he called her "Honey" and "Sweetheart," and she called him "Good Lips" and things like that, which we don't need to pursue any further.
The king and queen had three daughters. I know what you are thinking: the daughters didn't have names, either. That is partly true. Two of the girls were name-naked. I'm not even into the story yet and already we have four people that the Internal Revenue Service could not send a letter to. (1-2)

The lyrical storytelling continues as the narrator reveals the story's main focus: the king's third daughter, Psyche. (The one who was not name-naked.) I tried to write something that would give you an idea of how beautiful she was, but the letters of the alphabet got so confused and jumbled up trying to arrange themselves into words to describe someone for whom there were no words, they ended up crying in frustration. I hate trying to make words out of letters that have been crying and are so wet they can't stay on the page. Later on in the story, after the letters dry off, I'll try again to arrange them into enough words so you'll have some idea of what Psyche looked like. For now you'll just have to believe me when I say she was the most beautiful woman in the world (3). One problem of being the most beautiful woman in the world, besides loneliness, is jealousy. Who should be jealous of our young princess other than the great goddess of love herself, Venus.

Yes, Venus is jealous. She wants revenge. She wants it now. And who better to deliver it than her winged son, Cupid? Cupid's mission? To make Psyche fall in love with someone she shouldn't. Someone ridiculously ugly or inappropriate. Or some inanimate object, perhaps. Anything to bring shame on the mortal girl will do in Venus' opinion.

Cupid is the story of what happens when this "god of love" falls madly in love himself. Cupid did not understand what had happened to him. If you think about it, that's kind of funny. He was the god of love, but he had never been in love. Love had been a game to him, a game that he controlled with his bow and arrows. But after he saw Psyche, his life would never be again what it had been. (30) Like me and like you, Cupid accepted that it was not only possible but rational to love someone to whom he had not spoken--to love someone whose voice he had heard, whose face he had seen for, what? Five minutes? Ten? Certainly no more than that. Yet, this was all it took for him to feel as if he could lift mountains, polish stars, and hold the sun in his hands (35).

But love is never easy. Especially if it's true. One thing is clear. Cupid must choose between his mother and his new love. Who will he choose? What will he do to prove himself to his new love? After all, she doesn't know him. She doesn't love him. His love is a secret.

The power of love. The mystery of beauty. The wrath of gods and goddesses. Cupid is a great piece of storytelling. In the author's note, the readers learn Julius Lester's goal: to retell the story, but in the voice of a Southern black storyteller (193). This story was originally told by Lucius Apuleius in The Golden Ass.

http://members.authorsguild.net/juliuslester/
Cupid and Psyche
Wikipedia Cupid and Psyche
(Yet another page about) Cupid and Psyche
http://www.online-mythology.com/cupid_psyche/

Display Comments Add a Comment

As you know, I am participating in Miss Erin's Shakespeare Challenge. Today I bring you my thoughts on Troilus and Cressida. It is not so much a review as it is collected thoughts on the play. When I sat down to begin the play on Thursday night, I knew little about this play. I had never read it before. Never seen it acted on the stage. Never seen a film version of it. I chose it somewhat randomly. I was flipping through my RIVERSIDE SHAKESPEARE and it landed open to this play. When I saw it was set in Troy and covered the Trojan war, I thought the timing was right. After all, I had just read NOBODY'S PRINCESS and TROY. So I didn't know that this play was "one of Shakespeare's more difficult--and, some might say, unpleasant--plays to read or to watch" at the outset. (SparkNotes) Here is their description: "the play offers a debased view of human nature in war-time and a stage peopled by generally unsympathetic characters. Like many of the great tragedies, the broad theme is the relationship of, and conflict between, personal life and the interests of the state--in this case, the conflict between the romance of the title characters and the war-time politics that send Cressida away from her lover into the Greek camp. But this theme coexists with a general pessimism unmatched even in the darkest tragedies, as classical heroes like Achilles and Ajax are presented as self-absorbed thugs, and the central romance of Troilus and Cressida is rhetorically reduced to lust, so that in the memorable phrase of the Greek slave Thersites, "all the argument is a whore and a cuckold" (II.iii.75)." I would have described it, in my own words, as being anti-war, and carrying the message that life is pointless. The play depicts humans at their worst, but trying at times to do their best. They haven't given up completely on life, but they have given up on happiness. They're alive, but miserable essentially.

Is it worth your time? Shakespeare is still Shakespeare. There are some great lines in Troilus and Cressida. Some nice speeches. Lines that resonate with power and emotion. But if you're looking for something that is as emotionally moving that you can connect with personally...then Troilus and Cressida probably isn't the most satisfying play you can read. Sparknotes concludes: "There are many redeeming qualities to Troilus and Cressida, however, including some of the finest philosophical speeches in all of Shakespeare--which, some critics have suggested, are more impressive outside the context of the play than within it." In my opinion, it all depends on your expectations. If you're looking for a love story, this isn't it. It isn't a comedy or a romance. And it doesn't have the noble beauty of a tragedy. It's tragic. But it's just pointing out the meaningless of death and war and love and betrayal. Not really uplifting material. But not necessarily bad. Just different.

Sparknotes for Troilus and Cressida
Read Troilus and Cressida online

Here are some of my favorite lines:

TROILUS

The Greeks are strong and skilful to their strength,
Fierce to their skill and to their fierceness valiant;
But I am weaker than a woman's tear,
Tamer than sleep, fonder than ignorance,
Less valiant than the virgin in the night
And skilless as unpractised infancy.

PANDARUS

Well, I have told you enough of this: for my part,
I'll not meddle nor make no further. He that will
have a cake out of the wheat must needs tarry the grinding.

TROILUS

Have I not tarried?

PANDARUS

Ay, the grinding; but you must tarry
the bolting.

TROILUS

Have I not tarried?

PANDARUS

Ay, the bolting, but you must tarry the leavening.

TROILUS

Still have I tarried.

PANDARUS

Ay, to the leavening; but here's yet in the word
'hereafter' the kneading, the making of the cake, the
heating of the oven and the baking; nay, you must
stay the cooling too, or you may chance to burn your lips.

***

TROILUS

I was about to tell thee:--when my heart,
As wedged with a sigh, would rive in twain,
Lest Hector or my father should perceive me,
I have, as when the sun doth light a storm,
Buried this sigh in wrinkle of a smile:
But sorrow, that is couch'd in seeming gladness,
Is like that mirth fate turns to sudden sadness.

***

PANDARUS

'Well, well!' why, have you any discretion? have
you any eyes? Do you know what a man is? Is not
birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood,
learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality,
and such like, the spice and salt that season a man?

***

CRESSIDA

Words, vows, gifts, tears, and love's full sacrifice,
He offers in another's enterprise;
But more in Troilus thousand fold I see
Than in the glass of Pandar's praise may be;
Yet hold I off. Women are angels, wooing:
Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing.
That she beloved knows nought that knows not this:
Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is:
That she was never yet that ever knew
Love got so sweet as when desire did sue.
Therefore this maxim out of love I teach:
Achievement is command; ungain'd, beseech:
Then though my heart's content firm love doth bear,
Nothing of that shall from mine eyes appear.

***

AGAMEMNON

Your mind is the clearer, Ajax, and your virtues the
fairer. He that is proud eats up himself: pride is
his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle;
and whatever praises itself but in the deed, devours
the deed in the praise.

***

CRESSIDA

Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds safer
footing than blind reason stumbling without fear: to
fear the worst oft cures the worse.

***

CRESSIDA

They say all lovers swear more performance than they
are able and yet reserve an ability that they never
perform, vowing more than the perfection of ten and
discharging less than the tenth part of one. They
that have the voice of lions and the act of hares,
are they not monsters?

***
HECTOR

Hold you still, I say;
Mine honour keeps the weather of my fate:
Life every man holds dear; but the brave man
Holds honour far more precious-dear than life.

Add a Comment

Geras, Adele. 2000. Troy.

Troy is a soap opera of a book. There are twists and turns. Love and death. Hope and fear. Betrayal. Confusion. Told from several perspectives--a hand-maiden, a nurse and nanny, a servant who tends the horses, the women who do laundry, etc--it is an exciting, adventure story. Even though the reader can’t help but know the tragic ending, there is plenty to keep you turning the pages. It is a good read for those that can’t get enough of Greek mythology.

http://www.adelegeras.com/youngadults.html

Add a Comment

Friesner, Esther. 2007. Nobody's Princess.

Do you like heroines who are strong, independent, and self-sufficient? You may want to meet Helen. She's not your average princess. Sure, her mother and father are king and queen of Sparta. And sure, she may grow up to be "Helen of Troy." But Helen is a young firecracker of a character. She is not going to stand around learning how to do needlework while her two brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, get to have all the fun of learning to ride and hunt. She's not going to miss out on all the fun of learning how to use spears and swords. Disguising herself as a boy, she fools everyone but her brothers and their teacher, Glaucus. Fortunately for Helen, he bought into her theory of how the future queen of the country needs to be able to defend herself. Now, being an adventurer and hunter like her brothers isn't all fun and games. Helen is learning it takes hard work, sacrifice, and a strong mind. Some may call her pretty. But Helen pays them no attention. She wants one thing in life: freedom to live HOW she chooses. Beauty can be just as much of a hindrance as a help in that regards. NOBODY'S PRINCESS is an exciting book full of adventures. Friesner takes a well-known figure in mythology and creates an adventurous, one-of-a-kind childhood for this heroine mostly known for her beauty and sexuality.

There were many things I enjoyed about Nobody's Princess. Helen is strong. She is resourceful. She doesn't take no for an answer. She knows what she wants and she works hard to get it. Very admirable traits in a heroine.

So there we are again. I could claim a kingdom, cause a scene at a shrine, refuse to sacrifice to a goddess, and get away with it all. My life would always be easy and pleasant because no matter what I did, everything would be forgiven, forgotten, laughed away because I was pretty. No, I was better than pretty. I was beautiful. (26)

I wasn't a slave, but as much as I hated carding and spinning and weaving wool, Ione and Mother forced me to spend day after day learning how to do it. What they said was: "This is what all women do, even queens," but what I heard was: This is all that women can do, and even queens have no choice about it. Was that being free? Clytemnestra wasn't a slave, but when she was old enough she'd be married off and sent away to live with her husband. Would she get to choose him, or would she simply be told, "This is the man you're going to marry," the same way that Ione told us, "This is the dress you're going to wear today." Was that being free? I sat up. I knew what I wanted. "I just want to say yes or no about my own life," I said. "Always." (33)

Display Comments Add a Comment

Riordan, Rick. 2005. THE LIGHTNING THIEF. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0786856297

THE LIGHTNING THIEF is a surprisingly funny and charming YA novel. The basic premise of the book is that the gods and goddesses of Greek (and Roman) mythology are true. The gods and goddesses are alive and flourishing. They are still doing battle. They are still wreaking havoc on the world. They don’t reign on Mt. Olympus anymore in Greece. No, they now reside in the United States. The gods and goddesses are still coupling with humans and having offspring. These “half-bloods” have some extraordinary power. Percy Jackson is our hero. He doesn’t know it at the beginning of the novel, but by the end he not only knows but he is officially recognized as one of Poseidon’s sons. Old stories, myths, and “mythical” creatures come to life in this hilarious novel. With chapter titles like “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher” “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers” and “We Take a Zebra to Vegas.” Percy and his friends embark on one crazy (and dangerous adventure) after another. The narrative style is fabulously funny and clever. This book actually inspired me to pick up my old copy of Edith Hamilton's MYTHOLOGY.

The above review was written for "Miss Becky's Book Review" and Amazon back in 2005. I had only read the book once or possibly twice then. Now, two years later, I've read the book five times. It remains one of all-time favorites. I've passed it on to my mom who is just as in love with the series as I am. (She is currently reading Titan's Curse). Why is the book so good? It's exciting. It's funny. It's enjoyable. It's clever. Very clever. It's...undescribably unputdownable. I don't know why I love it...I just do.

I have been a bad blogger in my reviews of Titan's Curse and Sea of Monsters...because not only have I been reviewing the series in backward order...I've been failing to put up links as I go. Partly it was because I knew that I would eventually be posting them when I did Lightning Thief...but still that's not a *truly* valid excuse. So here they are belatedly...

http://www.rickriordan.com/children.htm
http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/
Hear the First Chapter of Titan's Curse as read by the author!!!
The first link also contains link to listen to the first chapters of The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters.
Author Interview with Rick Riordan, 2005
Miss Erin's Interview with Rick Riordan, 2007

If you've never read any of the series...here's a brief glimpse of what it is all about.

Look I didn't want to be a half-blood. If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways. If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages--if you feel something stirring inside--stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. Don't say I didn't warn you.

My name is Percy Jackson. I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that. I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan--twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. I know--it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes. . . .I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble. Boy, was I wrong.

FROM THE LIGHTNING THIEF by Rick Riordan, p. 1-2

Display Comments Add a Comment

Riordan, Rick. 2006. The Sea of Monsters.

The Sea of Monsters opens a year after the closing events of Lightning Thief. Percy Jackson has spent an entire school year keeping his big secret--that he's a half-blood, the son of Poseidon. It's been a rather busy school year as well. His only friend, Tyson, is a 'big' and somewhat dorky homeless kid. Still Percy is glad that it is the last day of school and that he'll soon be on his way to Camp Halfblood. If only he could shake off these weird dreams about his best friend Grover where he's wearing a wedding dress. Talk about strange! But as a nearly lethal game of dodge ball proves, strange things are happening everywhere. Camp Halfblood is in danger! Their protective tree has been poisoned. If a cure cannot be found, there will be no safe place on earth for these half-bloods to live, to train, to rest. Could the poisoned tree be in anyway connected with those weird dreams? Is Grover trying to tell him something? Percy and his friends will have to get to the bottom of this if they want to save their summer refuge....and quite possibly the world as they know it.

Display Comments Add a Comment

Riordan, Rick. 2007. The Titan's Curse.

For fans of The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters, Percy Jackson and his creator, Rick Riordan, need no introduction. Titan's Curse is the third installment in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series known for featuring gods, goddesses, half-bloods, and one adventure after another. In The Lightning Thief, Percy finds out he's the son of Poseidon. In the Sea of Monsters, Percy finds out that he may be the half-blood that fulfills a dangerous prophecy. In Titan's Curse, he learns just how dangerous the threat of that prophecy can be and how far certain characters will go to manipulate him onto their side.

The prophecy? That the son (or daughter) of one of the Big Three (Hades, Poseidon, or Zeus) will either bring salvation or destruction to the Olympians. The condition? This prophecy will be fulfilled when he/she is sixteen. If Percy is the 'one' of the prophecy he has two years to prepare for the temptations that will surely arise. But there is a person who is even closer to fulfilling the prophecy: Thalia. When Thalia is resurrected at the end of Sea of Monsters, no one is quite sure what to think. Will this daughter of Zeus--who is almost sixteen--be the 'one' of the prophecy? Can she be trusted? Whose side will she be on? Will she remember her happy childhood days with Luke and betray her new friends? Or betray her first true friend to do the 'right' thing by Olympian standards? Her sixteenth birthday is fast approaching and another even more critical deadline is approaching: Winter Solstice.

Titan's Curse has more of everything. More gods. More goddesses. More heroes (and heroines). More villains. More action and adventure. More danger. More prophecies. And strange as it may seem, more poetry as well. This is the Half-Bloods most dangerous adventure by far. And certain sacrifices will have to be made along the way, are Percy and his friends ready for what could prove to be their final battle?

THE TITAN'S CURSE will be released in May 2007. (May 1, 2007, according to Amazon.)

The Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an overnight bag and a few deadly weapons and took me to a new boarding school. We picked up my friends Annabeth and Thalia on the way.
It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Annabeth, Thalia, and I hadn't seen each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much. Except for my mom. She talks more when she's nervous. By the time we finally got to Westover hall, it was getting dark, and she'd told Annabeth and Thalia every embarrassing baby story there was to tell about me.
Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. "Oh yeah. This'll be fun."
Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.
"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" my mother asked.
"No, thanks, Mom," I said. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."
"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."
I hoped I wasn't blushing. It was bad enough I had to depend on my mom to drive me to my battles.
"It's okay, Ms. Jackson." Annabeth smiled reassuringly. Her blond hair was tucked into a ski cap and her gray eyes were the same color as the ocean. "We'll keep him out of trouble."
My mom seemed to relax a little. She thinks Annabeth is the most levelheaded demigod ever to hit eighth grade. She's sure Annabeth often keeps me from getting killed. She's right, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
"All right, dears," my mom said. "Do you have everything you need?"
"Yes, Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."
"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"
"Mom--"
"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"
"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on, guys."
She looked a little hurt, and I was sorry about that, but I was ready to be out of that car. If my mom told one more story about how cute I looked in the bathtub when I was three years old, I was going to burrow into the snow and freeze myself to death.
Annabeth and Thalia follwed me outside. The wind blew straight through my coat like ice daggers.
Once my mother's car was out of sight, Thalia said, "Your mom is so cool, Percy."
"She's pretty okay," I admitted. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?"
As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn't. Thalia was great at giving evil looks, what with the punk clothes she always wears--the ripped-up army jacket, black leather pants and chain jewelry, the black eyeliner and those intense blue eyes. But the look she gave me now was a perfect evil "ten." "If that was any of your business, Percy--"
"We'd better get inside," Annabeth interrupted. "Grover will be waiting."
Thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."
I stared up at the dark towers of Westover Hall.
"Nothing good," I guessed. (1-3)

Chapter One of Titan's Curse as read by Rick Riordan

Display Comments Add a Comment