Last week, my children were dying for the arrival of their copies of The Last Olympian,
the latest and last Percy Jackson book, by Rick Riordan.They eagerly awaited the mail, only to be flatly disappointed several days in a row. They spotted the UPS truck at fifty paces, but deflated when Mr. Brown did not stop at our house.
Finally, one day last week, there was a knock at the door. Mr. Brown had already dropped the package and was jogging back to his truck (I always call them -- all of them -- "the shy UPS guy" as they seem set upon never encountering an actual face.) I took the box inside.
I saw the return address -- Servant Books -- and knew that my author copies of the Rosary book had arrived. As I was opening it, a daughter happened into the room:
"A box! Is it Percy?"
"No," I replied, "it's my book! Look, my copies of the book! What do you think?"
"It's not Percy," my daughter yelled over her shoulder, reporting her disappointment to her fellow demi-god fan. "It's just Mom's book."
Heaving a pitiful sigh, my daughter slumped away.
Really, now.
Percy, that little upstart, is merely a demi-god. Whereas my book is about a whole, entire God. You know, the real one. Which would you get more excited about?
If you're under the age of 16, don't answer that.
8 comments:
We don't even have the new Percy book yet, but we do have your book! Though that may be partly because I'm the one who was at the book store, not my kids. :)
Karen, when my first article sold to a national magazine, heralding the true beginning of my freelance writing career (in my mind), arrived in the mailbox, I remember vividly that my daughter was much more interested in the ad of the pumpkin-shaped "Cinderella" crib on the opposite page than my article, which actually featured our family, including a full-color photo of her. The pumpkin crib won hands down. Yes, they do have a way of humbling us.
Please consider offering your rosaries( scandal at Notre Dame) see my blog for details. Thank you!
That's so funny, Karen!
Karen,
So I've got an 8 year old boy, loves greek mythology, so would get a lot of the bits in these books, but do you think that he's too young for these? I suppose I'm asking if you recommend them, or just think they're not actually bad, but not worth fighting your kids over?
Thanks!!
chris (sorry, I don't have a blogger account!)
Hi, Chris,
I think 8 is young for the books. I'm sure there are kids that age reading them, but the books get, in my daughters' words, "pretty gross" so personally, I'd wait until he's older, but it's a parent's call.
There are definitely things to discuss and counter, from a moral standpoint, such as how the stepfather situation is handled in the first book. That's why I always end up reading this stuff along with my kids! :) You might want to grab one from the library and page through and see what you think.
Karen,
Thanks! I'll take my time and check the first one out maybe later. Many years ahead to read, I hope!
chris
I have Rick Riordan to thank for turning my eight year old son into a Reader of Books.
Warren
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