The Lightning Thief

Title: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: YA; Mythology
Pages: 377
Time to complete: 2 days


Book Summary: Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse—Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. 

She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena—Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

Review: Okay so first off: I'm so sorry that I took forever on this post. College has been super crazy and the current weather is not helping. But I have finally gotten around to doing my first book review so I hope you can forgive me everyone.

So my first read is Percy Jackson's The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Now, I know how popular this book is, and for good reason, so I had it on my list to read. It is not my first time reading it, however since I have a profound love for this series I will review it anyways.

Percy Jackson is the sassiest character I have ever come across. With his wit and the plot line moving fast, The Lightning Thief is the book to read. Forget about the movie, the movie does not hold a candle to the book. The plot line follows Percy and his two new friends Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and Grover, a saytr. Their wild adventure across the U.S. starts in Medusa's lair and ends with them, well I won't spoil it for everyone who hasn't read it yet. But I do encourage anyone interested in adventure, comedy, and especially mythology to read this series.

Well that's all for now! Join me for my next blog post on Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. For this one it will be a review plus something extra.

Remember: The Book is Always Better

As They Say: Banned Books are Good Books

Okay so while being a college student in a Literature for Young Adults class, my professor passed out the "100 Banned Books" list. Of course I have seen this list tons of times in my life, but since I am working to become an author myself I thought I would talk about my thoughts about banned books.

I like to think that the books parents complain about are the best ones to read. Think about it. Harry Potter. Potter made the list because a parent brought up the fact that it has magic. Of course it does! It is about a wizard school. A school that is now a theme park and the most popular series and has eight movies that run on ABC Family on a monthly basis. Over the past few years, more and more books are being banned and challenged based on their content. Books like Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, and there are more. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since 1982, according to the Alabama Library Association.

I did a book review for my high school newspaper on The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. After reading the book, I wrote, "The story of little Pecola Breedlove, told by her friends Claudia and Frieda, is tragic and beautiful, but it's not just about her. It is a fearless look at racism, poverty, damaged self-esteem, and hatred. It is a hard look at people in tough situations, and how our society views those who are thrust into situations they cannot control." The father in Morrison's story when through something horrible, I understand that. But the difference between seeing the book as something "inappropriate" and as an issue that needs to be addressed is made when people read between the lines, not the lines themselves.

What I am trying to say is, maybe we need to take a step back and think for a moment. Is this book really so bad? The only way to find out is to read it and then decide.

Video Tips

Okay, so I found this video that I think would be a great thing to post and talk about. So this video is by Ellen Brock and she basically goes over basic mistakes that first time writers make. It's totally cool if you do make mistakes that's what writing is all about, making mistakes and in the end finding your voice. So I hope this video helps anyone starting out or even those who are published, you never know you might learn something new.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I'm Rosie and this is my Writer's blog where I hope to post tips, tricks, and help for sleep deprived, coffee guzzling writer's like me. For my first announcement NaNoWriMo is starting it's annual Camp NaNo for April. It's a great way for all writer's to start a new project, edit an old one, or even just meet like minded crazies to scream with. I'm already on it so spread the word and get a move on it.

To my fellow fangirls and boys, I say grab your pen and slay your word count!