Jaguar Stones, Book One, Middleworld: Jon and Pamela Voelkel

I read this book because I’m a big fan of the Percy Jackson series. Like totally love the series even though they are written for Middle Grade.

What did I think about this one? Way too elementary for an adult, but a great read for actual elementary school age kids. I’m definitely keeping this book for something Lyric can read when she gets older, but I won’t be finishing the series. It was good, don’t get me wrong, just too “young” for me.

recommend (for kids) and 4 stars (for kids)

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Max Murphy is looking forward to a family vacation. But his parents, both archaeologists and Maya experts, announce a change in plan. They must leave immediately for a dig in the tiny Central American country of San Xavier. Max will go to summer camp. Max is furious. When he’s mysteriously summoned to San Xavier, he thinks they’ve had a change of heart.  Upon his arrival, Max’s wild adventure in the tropical rainforests of San Xavier begins. During his journey, he will unlock ancient secrets and meet strangers who are connected to him in ways he could never have imagined. For fate has delivered a challenge of epic proportions to this pampered teenager. Can Max rescue his parents from the Maya Underworld and save the world from the Lords of Death, who now control the power of the Jaguar Stones in their villainous hands? The scene is set for a roller-coaster ride of suspense and terror, as the good guys and the bad guys face off against a background of haunted temples, zombie armies, and even human sacrifice! 

Reading level: Ages 9-12 Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: EgmontUSA; Revised edition (April 27, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 1606840711

The Lost Hero: Rick Riordan

Okay, this book was awesome! I read the entire Percy Jackson series and although, yes, it was quite juvenile, I totally got into it (it gets less juvenile as the books progress in classic HP style). I’ve always had a soft spot for Greek Mythology and I just really enjoyed the series and the characters and was sad when after 5 books, the series concluded…

OR SO WE THOUGHT 🙂

Riordan seriously brought it in this book and also brought it as far as page count goes. This book isn’t one of the tiny ones he’s written earlier, it has some girth to it and I really appreciated that.

If you enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, you’re going to love this beginning to a new series. I just wish I would have found out about this book after the 2nd one was already out because I wish I could have started on it immediately!

5 stars and totally recommend!

Amazon Summary:
Readers longing for a return to Camp Half-Blood will get their wish in the first novel of the Heroes of Olympus series, which follows Riordan’s popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and includes some of the same characters in minor roles. The new cast features Jason, Piper, and Leo, teen demigods who are just coming to understand and use their unique abilities as they learn how much depends upon their wits, courage, and fast-developing friendship. Setting up the books to come, the backstory of a master plan to unseat the gods is complex but is doled out in manageable bits with a general air of foreboding. Meanwhile, the action scenes come frequently as the three heroic teens fight monstrous enemies in North American locales, including the Grand Canyon, Quebec City, Detroit, Chicago, Omaha, Pikes Peak, and Sonoma Valley. Flashes of humor lighten the mood at times, but a tone of urgency and imminent danger seems as integral to this series as the last. With appealing new characters within a familiar framework, this spin-off will satisfy the demand for more.

  • Hardcover: 576 pages
  • Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; 1st edition (October 12, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9781423113393

Percy Jackson- The Last Olympian: Rick Riordan

This is the final chapter (or so far at least) of the Percy Jackson series.

This has the most battles. The most love. The most monsters. The most everything. Rick decided to throw it all in and give us a good read. I was not disappointed.

Definitely not a stand alone book as you want to read books 1-4 first, but definitely a great read and definitely recommend it.
4 out of 5 stars.

Amazon Summary:
All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.
In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy’s sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.

Percy Jackson- Battle of the Labryrinth: Rick Riordan

I think this was my favorite book of the series.
I liked how the Labrynth was written and I like the adventure of this one.

I give it 4 out 5 stars for the series and definitely recommend it.

Amazon summary:
The battle starts, literally, with an explosion and doesn’t let up. After Percy destroys the high school band room battling monsters called empousai who have taken on the form of cheerleaders, he has to hide out at Camp Half-Blood. There, Grover’s searcher’s license is going to be revoked unless he can find the god Pan in seven days. An entrance to the Labyrinth has been discovered, which means that Luke, the half-blood turned bad, can bypass the magical protections and invade the camp. Annabeth insists that she must follow a quest to locate Daedalus’s workshop before Luke does. Percy is disturbed by visions of Nico, the son of Hades, who is summoning forth the spirits of the dead with McDonalds Happy Meals. Percy, Grover, and Percy’s Cyclops half-brother follow Annabeth into the maze not knowing if they will ever find their way out. Riordan cleverly personifies the Labyrinth as a sort of living organism that changes at will, and that traverses the whole of the United States. Kids will devour Riordan’s subtle satire of their world, such as a Sphinx in the Labyrinth whose questions hilariously parody standardized testing. The secret of Pan is revealed with a bittersweet outcome that also sends an eco-friendly message. Like many series, the “Percy Jackson” books are beginning to show the strain of familiarity and repetition. However, the overarching story line remains compelling, and the cliff-hanger ending will leave readers breathless in anticipation of the fifth and final volume.

Percy Jackson Titan’s Curse: Rick Riordan

ooohhh, series starts getting a little more tense with the Titan Kronos really beginning to gain power.
Great book if you read it in the series.
I recommend it with 4 out of 5 stars.

Amazon summary:
Just after finding Bianca and Nico, two newly discovered half-bloods, Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and Thalia end up trapped between a helicopter and a manticore. Artemis and her Hunters save the day, but Annabeth disappears over a cliff; then Artemis rushes off to hunt a dangerous monster. Back at Camp Half-Blood, the Oracle foretells that Artemis must be rescued and makes a prediction that bodes ill for one of their number—but which one? Percy, who is supposed to remain behind while others pursue the quest, follows in search of the missing Annabeth. Their adventures range widely across the U.S., taking them to locales that include Washington, D.C., and the deserts of the Southwest and pitting them against the usual assortment of colorful adversaries. The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is built around a terrific idea—that the half-mortal offspring of Greek gods live among us, playing out struggles of mythic scale—and Riordan takes it from strength to strength with this exciting installment, adding even more depth to the characters and story arc while retaining its predecessors’ nonstop laughs and action.