Fablehaven

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Shadow Mountain - July 30, 2006
359 pages

Kendra and Seth Sorenson's grandparents (on their mom's side) died and left their parents with an adults-only cruise. That means that Kendra and Seth are supposed to stay with their grandparents on their father's side for seventeen days. The only problem is that they have pretty much no idea about Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson's lives. It turns out that their grandparents own a sanctuary for magical creatures called Fablehaven, and the majority of these creatures are dark and can destroy if they are let out. And when rules get broken, these things come out to play.

What book does this sound like to you? It could really be any children's fantasy novel. This is the same old plot that you know; kids go to a distant relative's house and learn that they have some strange connection with legendary creatures that were always believed to be false. The kids break rules and some mythical destroyer attacks. This was the most ridiculous, cliched children's book that I've ever read, though there aren't a lot of original plots in children's fantasy. There's actually a short series of comics about that at willwriteforchocolate.com featuring Michael, a children's author. Still, they could have at least made an effort.

Grade: D

The Lost Hero

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Disney-Hyperion - October 12, 2010
553 pages

Jason wakes up on a school bus without remembering anything from his past. Others tell him that the girl next to him, Piper McLean, is his girlfriend, and the guy by him is his best friend, Leo Valdez. He goes to a school for troubled children that has a teacher named Gleeson Hedge, and the class is going on a field trip to the Grand Canyon. While there, some extraordinary things happen that make Jason, Piper, and Leo question their heritage and start on a quest to save the world in the extremely popular short timespan.

Do not read this book. I am not telling you because this book is bad, but rather because if you try to read this book you will be inclined, no matter what I say, to read the second book, The Son of Neptune, which I was not able to get through. Save yourself the temptation and just do not read The Lost Hero. If you feel that you must, I'll tell you what you need to know about it. The characterization is pretty sloppy. There are stock characters here: Jason is the amnesiac hero, Piper is the poor girl who just never gets Daddy's attention, and Leo is the wild child. The thrown-in subplot about how Percy is missing seems like an excuse to get a couple extra pages in, which Riordan did not need. The second book could possibly have been saved if it were given a different plot instead of expanding on the Percy subplot. Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and other important Percy Jackson people should have been teachers. Still, it's an escape, and I will give it that. Percy Jackson and the Olympians was a good series, however, and it should have been left at that.

Grade: C+