Fun in the Mail.

Exciting Amazon delivery today!

Currently Reading: "The Lost Hero" by Rick Riordan

Ok, I wouldn't classify this an "old-fashioned children's story."  It won't go in my little slideshow on the right.  But I went to this book for a break from the old-fashioned children's novels I'd been trying that I didn't like so much (I won't name titles) and from YA dystopian fatigue.  I wanted something fun.  This was a good pick.

It reminded of Harry Potter right off the bat because of that fun - characters like Leo, who come alive on the page:

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that made Jason think this was not going to be helpful.  "We go to the 'Wilderness School'" - Leo made air quotes with his fingers.  "Which means we're 'bad kids.'  Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison - sorry, 'boarding school' - in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats!  And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat.  Is it all coming back to you now?"

It also reminded me of Harry Potter because I had just read Cheryl Klein's speech, "A Few Things Writers Can Learn from Harry Potter." Several things from her list ring true in The Lost Hero right away, too: 

• "So how does she make us care about Harry? First, she gets us to sympathize with him."  In The Lost Hero, we immediately sympathize with Jason because he's on a bus full of kids on a field trip and he can't remember anything, like who he is or what he's doing there. 
• "The second step in getting us interested in Harry: Ms. Rowling gives him an intriguing backstory and destiny."  Jason, Piper, and Leo just found out they're demi-gods - and now they're fated to go on a deadly quest, alone. 
• "The first book doesn't begin with...magic at all."The first chapter of The Lost Hero is almost firmly rooted in the totally normal world. It's not until the very end of the chapter that Jason hears anything about "halfbloods" or "monsters." 
• "And finally-the third technique J. K. Rowling uses in getting us to identify with Harry - She makes him a good person."  Just like Harry, Jason is a "good guy."  He protects others even when he's scared and doesn't know how.

If you haven't read her speech, do it now.  I honestly haven't read it all the way through because it feels like one of those things you have to absorb piece by piece.  But I should probably hurry up because her book Second Sight: An Editor's Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults is on its way to me.  Jody Sparks, my amazing critique partner, recommended it to me a couple of days ago. 

This is how I knew the book must be amazing:  Jody said I ought to take a look at the CHARACTER WORKSHEETS in it.  Character worksheets.  This, from my fellow groaner-in-crime a few weeks ago at the ole "Just do a character worksheet!" suggestion.  Cheryl Klein, I will be reading The Lost Hero on the living room couch while stalking the postman through our big front window for those character worksheets.  And that's saying a lot.