Quick Review: graphic novel Lightning Thief

My Thoughts: A nice retelling of the Lightning Thief - a great way to quickly refamiliarize yourself the story.

Art: I wasn't crazy about the art with the exceptions of the special effects. I think it's a personal choice. The characters aren't how I imagined - and it's hard for me to adjust. I think it's a great read for anyone interested in this series.

Source: Inter-Library Loaned

Reviews from Norwich Teens pt. 2

Hidden Talents by David Lubar
8 stars
This book is very funny!
~ Kara age 11



Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
10 stars
It is hilarious!
~ Luis age 12




The Clearing by Heather Davis
10 stars
I learned a lot from this book. The author wrote with precise interpretation of what it means to be a teenager in love - confused, able to make mistakes and regret them, and trying to run away from your own troubles. The hint of supernatural helps make this book one of the best so far.
~ Nicole age 15



Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
8.5 stars
I think the Lightning Thief is a great book for adults and kids. I recommended this book to a couple of my friends and they agreed with me that this is one of those books you can't put down.
~Riddhi age 14

Rick Riordan

Last Friday, Jill (the Children's Librarian) and I went to an outing for librarians, where we got to see Rick Riordan! If you don't know who he is, he's the author of the Percy Jackson series plus the first author of the 39 Clues book: Maze of Bones. He also writes adult mysteries, which I need to get my hands on.

He gave a presentation that included several amusing stories:

This is his first rejection letter: at the age of nine. His mom framed it. She still has it.










This is the manuscript for his first novel. 14 seemed to be the magic number because that's both the number of drafts to make it into his manuscript and also the number of rejections before it found a home. Here's the cover art for that book - it's the first in an adult series.




He wrote this book because his son made him. It started after he told his son all the Greek mythology stories he knew. His son pestered him for more. When he said he didn't know any more, his son demanded that he make one up. Here's the first cover for the Lightning Thief. It didn't make the cut - too boring.

He sent in the Lighting Thief under a pseudonym for fear that his younger readers would find his adult series. That also changed. When he realized it would be a 5 book series, he knew that he had to give up teaching middle school. There was no way to write two books/year as it hard enough writing one while teaching.


Here we are together after he signed my book and t-shirt (never washing again)









Here he is with Jill








I also won a raffle which included: 2 play aways (giving to the library), one 39 Clues back pack (Will be a summer prize) and 2 copies of the first three Percy Jackson books all signed (Jill and I are each taking one and the rest will be prizes for the summer.)

I also have a picture of Rick posing with the 39 Clues book which I will be making into a READ poster shortly.

It was a great day! He's awesome - really nice and funny!

Movie News

Maximum Ride: The Movie has a new director: Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke

Already people are buzzing about the movie.
Here they talk about it (call it a fantasy....where I firmly take Max Ride as Science Fiction)
Here is a reaction to calling Maximum Ride "The New Twilight" - a reaction I share....

Lightning Thief News

Alexandra Daddario will be Annabeth

except here they have Annabeth's age at 18, which is wrong.

Looking forward to both these movies, but the Lightning Thief more!

Percy Jackson Movie news

You Know that I LOVE this series and I can't wait for the movie version.
With Chris Columbus directing (Harry Potter), I'm sure it will be fabulous. Here's a look at the two major stars of the movie. Now I'm curious to see who will play Annabeth...
The movie appears to be coming out early next year!