Today's Pick: The Red Pyramid (Book 1 of the Kane Chronicles) by Rick RiordanSimple review-Loved it! Rick Riordan also wrote the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which I also really enjoyed. The Kane Chronicles are his newest series, but instead of Ancient Greece, his newest hero and heroine are taking on the gods and goddessess of Ancient Egypt.
Expanded review-Carter and Sadie Kane are brother and sister who don't know each other at all. Following the death of their mother 6 years ago, Carter went traveling all over the world with his father, famed Egyptologist (side note-I totally wanted to be an Egyptologist when I was little. Still do a little bit.) Dr. Julius Kane, and was homeschooled by him. Sadie lived with their grandparents in London, England, only getting to see her dad and brother twice a year. Each sibiling longs for what the other has and have nothing in common. On Christmas Eve, the date of their scheduled visit, things go very bad in the British Museum. Trying to make "everything right," their Dad summons a figure, blows up the Rosetta Stone, and gets banished into a golden sarcophogus. Now, all alone, Carter and Sadie try to put together the pieces of this puzzle and discover that the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt are real and one (Set) has an evil plan (don't they all?) to destroy Ma'at (order and peace) and usher in Apophis (chaos god). They also find out that their mom and dad were magicians of the House of Life and that they (Carter and Sadie) have powers they didn't know that they had-and that they are instrumental to stopping Set and Apophis. They meet all matter of help and hinderance along the way, which makes for a pretty quick moving story.
Carter and Sadie's point of views are both given, using the device that Rick Riordan is actually just writing down an audio taping of their story. I think it is cute, because sometimes there are little interjections by the other sibiling which shows both their personality and their growing relationship. This is definately a book for kids (I would put it at pre-Harry Potter even, 7-9 yrs old), just like the Percy Jackson series was, but I really enjoyed reading it. I am so excited for these books that make reading fun and exciting for little kids! What a great thing it is! I can't wait for Aidan to get just a little bit older so I can start reading outloud these books to him. I wanted to research the Eqyptian gods after reading this too. (Rick's version of Anubis is my favorite-think Edward Cullen.) If you have a couple days, and want a book that is pretty much mindless fun, pick it up!
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