Kidsmomo

Submitted by Samuel, Age 11 from New York

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Awesome Egyptian facts and…HIEROGLYPHICS

Submitted by Connor, Age 11 from Rhode Island

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The book throne of fire is written by an Author named Rick riordian. It has 2 kids who have to save a god named Ra. This connects me to when my brother and I travel. I recommend this to action, Fiction, and adventure readers.

I saw posters for it in bookstores, and notifications on websites. There were announcements on blogs, and trailers before movies. I was told that the hottest thing thing to read right now is Rick Riordan’s Throne of Fire (Book Two of The Kane Chronicles)… and everyone and everything was right!

Picking up the book several months after The Red Pyramid was a breeze — if the breeze were a giant gust of wind that causes tsunami-sized waves of action. To give you an idea: the first chapter is titled, “Fun with Spontaneous Combustion,” and it’s immediately followed by Chapter Two: “We Tame a Seven-Thousand-Pound Hummingbird.”

There are also new characters that immediately intrigued me — the book is still narrated by Carter and Sadie Kane (underage Egyptian magicians who were once possessed by reawakened Egyptian gods Horus and Isis), but we’re now introduced to Bes, a dwarf god, and Walt and Jaz, who are Carter and Sadie’s new trainees. That’s right — Carter and Sadie are training other teenagers of Egyptian magician descent to practice ancient magic. Definitely not a run-of-the-mill teenager story! (Unless you count Sadie’s crush on Walt and Anubis, a 5000-year old god of death… actually, nope, definitely not run-of-the-mill!)

This time around, Carter and Sadie have to find a way to reawaken Ra, the sun god, so that he can battle Apophis, the god of chaos. Apophis is breaking free of the cage that Ra put him in many, many centuries ago. Just a few of the problems Carter and Sadie encounter: an evil Russian magician with horrifically scarred eyes who dresses like an ice cream man (yes, an ice cream man), who wants Apophis to take over. Sadie’s grandparents being possessed by a giant baboon and a vulture. And the possibility that Ra is actually a creaky, tired god who would have preferred to be left in retirement.

Have I said too much? I hope not. Because everything I’ve mentioned is only about the FIRST HALF of the book. So pick it up already, and join the adventure!

— Nancy

To be honest, if Nancy were to choose a book to “live” in, she wouldn’t pick The Kane Chronicles. As cute as Anubis sounds, giant snakes are just too scary.

Meet Nancy »

Thank the gods, the world now has a sneak preview of The Throne of Fire (Book 2 of Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles)! The first chapter has been released, along with the cover!

As you might have guessed from my obsessive — I mean, thorough coverage of the cover for The Red Pyramid when it was first released, and from my recommendation of the book in Kidsmomo theme Globe-Trotting Adventures, I really like this series so far.

As you’ll see from Chapter 1 of The Throne of Fire, posted exclusively on USA Today, Carter and Sadie are at it again with their baboon companion, Khufu, and the Egyptian gods that are semi-inhabiting their minds.

So, onto the new book cover!

• Sadie and Carter are back, on what looks to be an Egyptian papyrus boat.
• I like that they are facing us (more or less) this time, and don’t have their backs towards us. It’s like they’ve grown up since the first book and have a lot more confidence!
• I spot Carter’s bag around his shoulder…
• And Sadie’s carrying a scepter…
• There’s a flaming throne represented on the sails (title alert!).
• And is that a museum behind them?
• What are those three sticks poking out on the left?
• And last, but not least: OMG THERE ARE A BILLION COCKROACHES/BEETLES/SOME KIND CREEPY CRAWLY BUG ewwwwww…

What are some things you notice from the beautiful cover?

— Nancy

Nancy is very much afraid of bugs, which is pretty obvious from the freak-out in the last bullet point.

Meet Nancy »