Middle Grade Monday: The Sun and the Star: a Nico Di Angelo Adventure by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro

Image: Disney Books

Sorry for this late posting of Middle Grade Monday! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break and didn't eat too much. This is going to be a busy week at my school with Student Led Conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday and our author visit on Thursday.My students are excited to meet Dusti Bowling? Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus was our One Book, One School read last month.

Middle Grade Monday features The Sun and the Star: a Nico Di Angelo Adventure by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro. It's hard to believe that this stand-alone novel is the 17th book that takes place in the PercyVerse. The Lightning Thief, Mr. Riordan's debut was published in 2005, and 2023 saw two new books published by the former seventh grade teacher. This and The Chalice of the Gods, which is about Percy Jackson and his attempt to be a normal high school student.

Moody and dark Nico Di Angelo has lost a lot in his life, from his mother and sister to his best friend, Jason, but he's crazy in love with Will Solace, his bright light, his Care Bear. Only he's plagued by dreams and a voice in his head begging him to travel to Tartarus to rescue someone. When he consults with Rachel Dare, he learns of a prophecy and is convinced he must travel there though his father has forbidden anyone who is alive from traveling to the Underworld, let alone Tartarus, the absolute pits. He's both gratified and upset that Will, the son of Apollo insists on joining him. How can the son of light possibly survive in the depths of the Underworld?

Fans of these series will not be disappointed!

Middle Grade Monday: The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan

Image: Disney Books

The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan. Trials of Apollo #5. Read by Robbie Daymond. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~12 hours. Listening Library/ Penguin Random House Audio, October, 2020. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library. Purchased hard cover.)

Happy Winter Solstice TMS Readers! Today marks the longest period of darkness and the beginning of winter. Starting tomorrow, we get a bit more daylight each day. Also, the forcast is for cloudy skies, so we might not get to see the show that Saturn and Jupiter are putting on tonight.

Middle Grade Monday features The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan. Yes, TMS Readers, the Trials of Apollo series has come to an end. Lester Papadopoulos and Meg have been through A LOT and now have to face their final challenge back in New York - Nero's lair. Will Meg have the strength to resist Nero, her abusive step-father? Will the campers at Camp Half-Blood rally around Apollo when the odds of them walking into a trap and not walking out are high? Can Lou be trusted? No spoilers here!

If you have not read the first four books in this rollercoaster of a series, then you absolutely must. It's hard to believe that The Tower of Nero marks the fifteenth book set in the Percy Jackson world. It's also hard to believe that it has come an end. Fear not Riordan fans, Uncle Rick has hinted at a few stand-alone novels, so let the predicting commence! Will Nico and Will get their own book? How about the Artemis crew or maybe Piper? Then there's Chiron's cryptic line at the end about a severed head and a cat that is also promising. Stay tuned!

I must admit that this series seemed never-ending. It is not my favorite, though it did grow on me as did Robbie Daymond as narrator. He does have quite a range of voices. 

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Lovely War by Julie Berry

Image: Penguin Random House 

Lovely War by Julie Berry. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~11 hours. Read by Jane Entwhistle, Allan Corduner, Dion Graham, Nathanial Parker, Fiona Hardingham and Steve West. Listening Library, March, 2019. 9781984838278. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library. Arc courtesy of publisher.)

Teen Tuesday features Lovely War by Julie Berry. This sweeping historical romance begins in December of 1942 in an elegant New York City hotel. A gorgeous couple are caught by the wronged husband. The paramours happen to be Aphrodite the goddess of love and Ares the god of war. The cuckold is Hephaestus. He ensnares them in an breakable golden mesh net and intends to put them on trial on Mount Olympus; but Aphrodite asks to plead her case directly to her husband. So she tells the story of her two favorite love matches - Hazel and James and Colette and Aubrey.  

In 1917, Hazel, a pianist, played at at dance where she met James, a builder turned soldiers, who was shipping out to fight in France. The two fell quickly in love and Hazel promised to write. She joined the war effort as an entertainment volunteer and also shipped out to France soon after. There she met Colette, a Belgian refugee with a tragic past who sings like an angel. Colette crosses paths with Aubrey, an African American jazz musician and those two fall in love. 

As Aphrodite weaves the two stories together, she's joined by Ares, Hades and Apollo, who all had a hand shaping the events of the war and its consequences.

Immersive and epic, this is definitely one for the reread pile. There is just so much to love here from the gorgeous writing to the characters. I am not a fan of most romance novels but I am a fan of this one. It's smart. It's compelling. It's an exquisite read that I couldn't rush through because I was reading with my ears, but I wanted to. I needed to find out what happened to these four young souls. And yet, I didn't want the book to end. 

Lovely War is a first-purchase. It's a must-read for your patrons who love mythology; for your romance fans; for your war-story fans. Really, it's a must-read for just about any reader. 

Non-Fiction Monday: Hades Speaks! by Vicky Alvear Shecter

Hades Speaks! A Guide to the Underworld by the Greek God of the Dead by Vicky Alvear Shecter. Illustrated by J.E. Larson. Secrets of the Ancient Gods series. 128 p. Boyds Mills Press/ Highlights, September 1, 2014. 9781620915981. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

Poor misunderstood Hades. He invites the reader to join him on a tour of the Underworld but warns those with a fear of the dark away and recommends sturdy walking shoes. Then he whines a bit about his little brother Zeus cheating him out of his right to choose his domain. He has no love for Zeus' son Herakles either. Not only does he lament the fact that temples are never built in his honor but that modern day children think that Homer is Homer Simpson and not the famous Greek poet. 

Never mind, he is here to set us straight as he guides us through the Underworld and patters on snarkily while pointing out landmarks of interest. Persephone even makes an appearance. Atmospheric black and white illustration pepper the text, backmatter includes a map, a glossary, guide to gods and heroes and suggestions for further reading in print and on the web. 

I hope there are more of these nifty guides planned. Hades Speaks and the earlier, Anubis Speaks are both wonderful additions to the 292 section of the collection. Your myth-o-philes will just eat this one up! 

The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan

Adapted by Robert Venditti. Art by Attila Futaki. Color by Tamas Gaspar. 128 p. Hyperion Books for Children, July 2, 2013. 9781423145295. (Purchased)

Percy is about to complete a year of school without any drama or trauma. Unfortunately, on the last day of school, a game of dodgeball goes terribly wrong. Thankfully, Annabeth arrives to save the day but brings bad news. Camp Half-blood has been poisoned. Chiron is leaving. Nothing is the same. To make matters worse, the boy that Percy befriended at school turns out to be a cyclops and his half-brother. Percy's world is rocked. But there's a quest to be had and a prophecy to be fulfilled.

I read The Sea of Monsters wa-ay back in 2006, a full two years before I started blogging and probably 1000 books ago so I can't really call this a reread. It was almost like reading a new book. So I don't know what the adapters left on the cutting room floor. I just love what they have delivered. 

This. Book. Is. Gorgeous. 

The art leaps from the pages. It's luminous, energetic and quite frightening at times. It actually overpowers the text. I needed to read the pictures and then go back to read the words. Riordan's writing is very cinematic and the art does it justice. (I hear that Sea of Monsters is in production, or made. I hope that they get it right as the graphic artists have.)

I predicted that the graphic novel adaptation would be popular at my library when I reviewed The Lightning Thief back in 2010. Hyperion, what took so long? I do hope that it won't take quite so long for The Titan's Curse.