Kidsmomo

There’s a storm raging right now (literally, Hurricane Irene is currently pouring on NYC, where Karen and I live), so I decided to stay inside with The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. Right when I finished the book, lightning flashed outside my window — maybe a sign of approval from Zeus?

Last fall, Karen wrote about The Heroes of Olympus, a new series by Rick Riordan that continues the adventures of the  Camp Half-Blood kids. In case you’re not familiar: Camp Half-Blood is a camp where demigods (children of Greek gods and mortals) hide out and learn to fight monsters. They have special powers. Need more information? Pick up the awesome Percy Jackson series.

So, back to business: I just finished the first book in the series, The Lost Hero, which was also pretty awesome. It’s told from three demigods’ perspectives: Jason, Leo, and Piper. All three of them have complicated pasts. Jason woke up with amnesia, Leo feels guilty over his mother’s death, and Piper’s just found out that her father disappeared. And they still have to find out which Greek god is one of their parents.

This is the part of the recommendation where I really don’t want to give out any spoilers, but I really want blab everything because it was so great. Here are a few more morsels: Jason speaks Latin. Leo can fix anything. And Piper can convince strangers to give her expensive cars. It’s a great continuation of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series (I won’t even complain that Percy wasn’t in the book in person — uh oh, was that a spoiler?), and even if you haven’t read the PJTO books, I guarantee you’ll like it. I’ll just leave it at this: the last sentence of the book made me shout “OMG!!!” really loud (which scared my visiting family a bit). I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, The Son of Neptune.

And if you noticed that Neptune isn’t a Greek god, it’s a Roman god — well, that’s very clever of you and a big deal in the series. And if you didn’t notice… well, oops, spoiler.

— Nancy

 
Nancy’s off to read the first chapter of The Son of Neptune many, many times until it’s released on October 4th!

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Karen says: You guys are gonna love our latest podcast, all about books with multiple viewpoints. And as a bonus, I tell some really fascinating stories about corn! I promise, you’ll be on the edge of your seat!

Nancy says: I think you’ll all really enjoy our latest podcast, all about books told in alternating perspectives. I’m just sorry that Karen talked about corn SO MUCH. Maybe you can fast forward through that part…

Listen now:
 
  (10:26)
Download the MP3 (5 MB)
• “Lost and found” — aka our mystery book revealed
• Dumbledore tells all? We wish!
• Our One Story, Multiple Narrators picks (Never Mind! and The View from Saturday)
• Corn

Also, don’t forget: our new theme is books for series starring girls, in honor of Women’s History Month! So send us a review of your favorite series starring a girl, and check our picks for series starring girls.

— Karen and Nancy

This book trailer for The Lost Hero was originally the Mystery Book Theater video for our One Story, Multiple Narrators theme. For more on The Lost Hero, check out our “Look Who’s Talking!” podcast.

Usually field trips are a nice break from everyday school life. But what if you’re on a field trip — and you’re suddenly attacked by magical spirits? Then you’re transferred to a camp for the children of Greek gods… and guess what, you’re one of them! That’s how the story starts for three different but connected teens in Heroes of Olympus Book 1: The Lost Hero. Watch our video to meet them!

Here in the Northern Hemisphere (where Kidsmomo makes its home), the winter solstice is today. That means that tonight, the North Pole will be tilted as far away from the sun as it possibly can go, and we’ll experience the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It’s also the official first day of winter.

Now, unlike pretty much EVERYONE ELSE I’ve ever met, I enjoy the winter more than the summer — and I even like the way it gets dark early. Feels cozier to me that way.

But I may have to change my mind, based on what I just read in The Heroes of Olympus Book 1: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. In the book, Chiron the centaur offers a much spookier description of today’s big event than anything I learned in science class:

“The winter solstice,” Chiron spoke up, “is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things… stir.”

The way he said it, stirring sounded absolutely sinister — like it should be a first-degree felony, not something you did to cookie dough.

“Okay,” Annabeth said, glaring at the centaur. “Thank you, Captain Sunshine…”

As if Chiron’s warning about the winter solstice isn’t chilling enough, I’m a bit freaked out that I happened to read it on winter solstice day itself! Uh, should I be concerned about what’s coming tonight? Is this a sign?! For now, I’m going to fix myself a cup of hot cocoa and pretend like there’s nothing to worry about. But I just hope I can get to sleep later…

— Karen

Karen tends to have an overactive imagination, so this winter solstice stuff is probably no big deal. Then again, that’s what the protagonist always thinks at the beginning of a horror movie…

More about Karen »

Obviously, we love Rick Riordan’s books. Based on the amount we’ve talked about Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Kane Chronicles, you’d think we’re a teeny bit obsessed. But you’d be wrong — because we’re actually majorly obsessed. So, of course, we’re super excited to share news about Rick Riordan’s new series, The Heroes of Olympus!

A while back, we heard that Riordan would be writing a PJTO spin-off about a new group of demigods at Camp Half Blood, but we didn’t have any details. Well, this week, Riordan finally spilled some juicy info:

And you can learn even more about the new series on the official website, where you’ll also find… are you ready?… A SNEAK PEEK OF THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome!

Can you tell I’m excited? Just a tad? Let me put it this way: I intended to read just a little bit before going to bed last night because I was really, really tired. But once I started, I could not tear my eyes away. And when I got to the last page, I clicked “Next” anyway — even though I knew I had reached the end — because I just wasn’t ready to stop reading. So yeah, you could say I kind of dug it. Kinda.

So… what are you waiting for? Go check out all the goodies at the Heroes of Olympus site! The first book in the series, The Lost Hero, won’t be in stores until October 12th, but at least Riordan’s giving us some entertaining stuff to keep us busy until then. I just wish he’d included a few more chapters. Sigh.

— Karen

Karen once took a quiz to tell her which Percy Jackson character she’d be. The answer was Annabeth Chase. Well, obvi. Because Karen’s wise. Right?

More about Karen »