The Mark of Athena - this and that

Riordan, Rick. 2012. The Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena. New York: Disney Hyperion.

Usually, I listen to Rick Riordan's books, but I read this one instead.  I think I prefer this series in print.


US trailer

UK trailer

The Mark of Athena, in which:

Percy and Annabeth are finally reunited
We don't see nearly enough of Ella (I love that harpy!)
Seven demigods set forth on a quest
Leo is odd man out
The end is a real cliffhanger


Here's the plot, according to Ella,

Wisdom’s daughter walks alone

The Mark of Athena burns through Rome,

Twins snuff out the angel’s breath,

Who holds the key to endless death.

Giant’s bane stands cold and pale,

Won through pain from a woven jail.

Some odds and ends:

• 586 pages or 15 hrs, 9 min in audiobook version
• Read the first chapter of The Mark of Athena here.
• Listen to an audiobook excerpt of The Mark of Athena.
• A Teacher's Guide to Rick Riordan's books is available on his site.
• Fans will love it.
• I'm in the Greek camp.

Next up: The House of Hades, due out in October 2013.

Marathon - a review

 Yakin, Boaz and Joe Infurnari. 2012. Marathon. New York: First Second. 
Advance Reader Copy

From the publisher's website,

In 490BC, an Athenian messenger named Eucles ran 153 miles from Sparta to Athens, and in so doing preserved ancient Greek civilization from subjugation to the Persian Empire.

This is his story.

The Greek and Persian wars are standard fare in the history books of middle and high schoolers, but it's doubtful that school text books can generate the same interest level as this sparsely tinted graphic novel treatment of the epic run that made the town of Marathon synonymous with running -  Eucles' race against time and foes to save Athens from the advancing Persian army of King Darius.

Alternating between shades of gray for flashbacks of Eucles' youth, and shades of brown for the present, Joe Infurnari's illustrations are teeming with action and intensity, frequently spilling between panels. Some scenes do require close inspection to differentiate between the similarly swarthy characters and combatants not clothed in signature battle dress.

Flashbacks notwithstanding, the story is chronological from the point of the runner, though sections are divided not by time, but by distance and destination,

"'Distance from Athens to Sparta: 153 Sparta," "Distance from Sparta to Marathon: 158 miles," and finally, with pursuers close behind, "26 miles to Athens," to deliver the final message of warning,

It's Eucles!
Eucles returns!
What news?
Does our army stand?

Victory is ours.
-but the Persian fleet approaches.
They will arrive ... before our army is able to march back to defend the city.

The final 26 miles is the basis for our modern marathon races.  This year, the spirit of Eucles and Ancient Greece will live on in the city of London's 2012 Olympic Games. Information on the 2012 Olympic Marathon race in London (including a route map) is available here.

View a 7-page excerpt from Marathon here.

Aptly suggested for grades 7 and up.

The graphic novel format brings new life to ancient history.  This title should be especially appealing to boys.

The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. (2010) Directed by Chris Columbus, Twentieth Century Fox.
Rated PG (for action violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild language)

I went with three teenagers to see The Lightning Thief yesterday.  The theater was packed with young people, mostly boys. I have a few comments, but encourage you to stop here if you don't want to know how the movie compares to the book! 

First, let me say that we all enjoyed the film.  The special effects, acting, and pacing were great. I don't think that any viewers went away disappointed - that is, however, unless they were expecting strict adherence to Rick Riordan's novel.  Following are a few of the differences between the book and movie versions (in no particular order): the sequence of events at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis was deleted and replaced with an incident in Nashville, Tennesse. Annabeth is not a blonde and doesn't have a special baseball cap. Percy, not Gordon, wears the flying sneakers. The Ares cabin at Camp Half-Blood is never mentioned, and Percy's showdown with Ares in California is missing entirely. Also, as a New Jerseyan, I could not help but notice that Percy and company meet up with Medusa in Leeds, NJ (home of the famous New Jersey Devil). I don't recall the location in the book, but I'm sure that it was not Leeds, NJ.

A few modernizations to the story were added as well - in the Las Vegas casino, Grover struts to the groove of Lady Gaga, when crossing the River Styx, Grover complains about wasting money in a time of recession, Annabeth worries that Homeland Security will be looking for the group, and finally, Percy views Medusa in the reflection on his iPod Touch. None of these detract from the story, but may have the reverse effect of dating the movie as the years go by.

Overall, I thought the movie was great!  I'm looking forward to Rick Riordan's next series about life after Camp Half-Blood, and I hope to see Sea of Monsters on the big screen as well.

Enjoy the movie trailer!