The Lost Hero

The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero
Riordan, Rick.  The Lost Hero, Book One of the Heroes of Olympus Series.  Disney, Hyperion Books.  New York, NY, 2010.
Annotation:
The first book in the Heroes of Olympus Series. 
Jason Grace wakes on a school bus to find he has amnesia.  Attacked by storm spirits, Jason is defended by his best friends Leo and Piper.  Rescued and given safe haven at Camp Half Blood, Jason struggles to remember who he is and why he has no memories, and yet everything seems so familiar.
Jason, Leo, and Piper are sent on a quest to rescue Hera from one of the greatest threats to face the demi-gods in eons.


Book Talk:
Jason awakes in a school bus full of kids from the Wilderness School, headed on a field trip to the Grand Canyon.  He is sitting next to his girl friend, Piper, and his best friend, Leo.  There's one tiny problem: he doesn't remember any of them.

Attacked by storm spirits on the sky walk over the Grand Canyon, Jason struggles to remember the names of things that seem so familiar to him, and yet he just can't understand why they seem familiar. 

Rescued and taken to Camp Half Blood, Jason is shocked to hear the words "You're supposed to be dead!" as his greeting from the Camp Director. 

Struggling to recall who he is, and why everything seems so familiar and yet strangely different, Jason is sent on a Quest with Leo and Piper to rescue Hera before the Solstice.  Reassured by the Oracle that he is one of the champions who will fulfill the prophecy, he takes off with his friends on a broken, flying mechanical dragon in order to query the winds and find Hera before time runs out.

Will Jason remember who he is?   Will this memory be the end of Camp Half Blood?

Author's Web Site:
http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx

Reviewer's Note:
Excellent Read!  I wasn't expecting this book to be as good as the original Olympian Series with Percy Jackson.  I was happily surprised.  Every Rick Riordan fan will enjoy the book.  The old characters from the Olympians make appearances, but they are not the main characters.  The characters in this book stand alone on their own merit.  Looking forward to the next book in the series!

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Lockdown

Myers, Walter Dean.  Lockdown.  Amistad, a division of Harper Collins Publishers.  2010.


Annotation:
Reese, an inmate at the Progress Juvenielle Detention Facility is given a rare opportunity to remake his life.  He is put on a work release program at a nursing home.  As Reese struggles with life within the walls at Progress, he realizes that life is about the choices that you make.

Book Talk:
Reese has been serving time at Progress for 22 months.  He stole prescription drug pads from a doctor in his neighborhood and sold them to a drug dealer.  For the first time, he has been given the opportunity to change his life.  He has been admitted to the work-study program where he will be able to learn job skills which will help him to support himself once he is released from prison.  With a job, he won't have to return to stealing in order to support himself and his family.  He needs a plan.  He needs to make a plan for his life in order to keep him out of trouble when he returns home.

But life in the prison is tough.  Kids come and go, and all of them have an agenda.  Everyone wants to prove that they are the toughest kid on the block, and that they are not to be messed with.  Each new arrival looks for a victim as soon as they arrive.  Unfortunately, the always settle on the smallest kid, Toon.  Reese doesn't want to lose his one opportunity to get out of jail early.  He doesn't want to mess up and be sent upstate to the next level of prison - with the adults.  But can he honestly just sit back and watch as Toon gets beaten up by the newest arrivals who are out to prove themselves?

Author's Web Site:
http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/

Reviewer's Note: 
Walter Dean Myers has taken a place in my heart as one of my favorite authors of YA literature.  He was the first ever winner of the Printz Award - which is the best book written for young adults every publishing year.  I began my teaching career 20+ years ago in an inner city neighborhood.  Although I have since moved on, my heart has forever been touched by those kids who were exposed to the rough side of life entirely too young.  I find his books to be an honest look at the issues kids can face.  He tackles these issues with love, candor, and understanding.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Hunger

Kessler, Jackie Morse.  Hunger (Riders of the Apocalypse).  Graphia, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  2010.


Annotation:
Lisabeth Lewis has had a rough year.  She is battling Anorexia.  She is battling depression.  She has been named Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.   As she travels the world, she brings hunger wherever she goes. 

Book Talk:
Lisabeth Lewis has an ultra-cool black horse that loves pralines.  She has a set of scales.  And, she has a brand new job.  She's been appointed one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse- Famine. 

Her job is to travel throughout the world and bring hunger and thirst.  Wherever she goes, Pestilence, War, and Death are not far behind.

There's a problem, though.  Lisa is Anorexic.  She constantly struggles with her own inner hunger.  Now, she must travel to parts of the world where hunger is a painful part of everyday life.  As she sees the devastating effects of hunger wherever she goes, Lisa begins to battle her own inner demons- and the desire to be thin - against the needs of the people around her who are suffering. 

Can she find a way to use the powers of Famine for good?

Author's Web Site:
http://www.jackiemorsekessler.com/

Reviewer's Note:
With the graphic themes of Famine, of Anorexia, Bulimia, and a suicide attempt, I would not recommend this book for young teens.  The publisher recommends this book for grades 7 - 10.  I think I'd push that age limit up a bit, to grades 9-12. As a Mom who knows several teens struggling with an eating disorder, I did find this book very insightful.  It was an excellent read, fast paced, and thought provoking.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!