"The Red Pyramid" and "The Throne of Fire" by Rick Riordan

 I have a hard time writing separate book reviews for books that are in a series together.  So, I thought I'd give a quick review of the first two books in The Kane Chronicles trilogy, by Rick Riordan. 

When I first heard about Rick Riordan, it was in the Spring of 2008 (so LONG ago).  I was preparing a literature circles unit with my one Language Arts class that I had my first year of teaching.  The library at good old Landmark was huge.  It was so incredibly, nice, with a large section of books that teachers could check out for their classes to use.  One of the books that I thought looked interesting was a book called The Sea of Monsters by Riordan.  I tried to read all of the books that I had picked for the Literature Circles groups, and instead, after I finished reading The Sea of Monsters (which is actually book 2 in the series), I found books 1 and 3 and devoured them.

I am going to preface this review by saying that I have a lot of respect for Rick Riordan, not just as an author of great books, but as somebody that obviously has worked with middle school kids successfully, which is pretty rare.  I don't know of any other novelists that write with that middle school sense of humor as successfully and inventively as Riordan does. Okay, now on to the review.

Carter and Sadie Kane share narration in both of these novels.  They are brother and sister, but they don't know each other all that well since they have been separated since their mother's death when they were quite young.  Sadie, the younger of the siblings, has been stuck in boring old England with her grandparents.  She gets to see her Dad and brother on Christmas.

Carter has been living with his Dad, a prominent Archaeologist that specializes in studying Egypt and traveling the world with him.  When they pick up Sadie and head to the British Museum on Christmas to study the Rosetta Stone, they have no idea  that their lives will change so dramatically.  Carter and Sadie's father somehow releases the Egyptian God Set, and four other Egyptian Gods:  Nephythys, Osiris, Isis and Horus.

Carter and Sadie are then whisked off to Brooklyn with their Uncle Amos and told about their powerful heritage:  They have the blood of pharaohs from both their mother and their father and because of this, they start gaining interesting powers, such as the ability to fight monsters and to create portals. They have to use these new talents rather quickly, since Set has entombed their father, and it's up to them to save him and the world from Set's destruction.   They encounter several creepy Egyptian Gods and monsters while they try to defeat Set (and in the second book wake up the God Ra).  They are also hunted by the magician of the House of Life, who blame the siblings for awaking the Gods, a time-honored TABOO. 

Okay, whew.  That's a general synopsis of the entire series, and a little bit about the plot from the first book.  I don't want to spoil anymore than I already have.

Sadie and Carter take turns telling their story.  Usually Carter will take two chapters, then Sadie will write two, and they'll flip flop.  The narration in the story is what threw me off the first time I read The Red Pyramid.  I didn't like the narration, especially the contrast between the two characters.  Carter is a nerdy, well-behaved kid that was OBVIOUSLY home-schooled.  Sadie is a snarky, British girl with a punk attitude and enjoys defying orders.  The dual narration is different from the Percy books because those books are solely narrated by Percy, and I thought that Riordan was trying to hard to make them like Percy.

I am going to add in that I really like the way Riordan wrote most of the characters from this story, including: Khufu, the intelligent baboon that loves the Lakers and mercilessly beats Carter at basketball;  Uncle Amos who looks liked a mob boss with his fedora and Italian suits;  Bast, the cat God that wears a leopard print body suit and enjoys her Friskies; Anubis, the God of funerals and ceremonies for the dead, who appears as a jackal headed humanoid to most people, but whose appearance to Sadie changes into a hot, goth, human teenage boy; and last, but not least, Set, the antagonist in the first book that becomes a reluctant ally in the next book, described as wearing a red, silk disco suit.  I think part of Riordan's writing ingenuity is just the way he can adapt these Egyptian Gods to modern times. 

The second time I read The Red Pyramid, I liked it a lot better.  I embraced the differences and similarities between the two series.  Riordan's humor, will always be in his books targeted for children.  It's a part of his style, and you either love it or you hate it.  I really enjoyed the growth that Carter and Sadie's relationship had in the books.  They started out as almost strangers, and in the end, they become close friends and they learn to rely on each other.  They embrace each others differences, and in the end, they're still family, which is what matters the most.

Both characters show a lot of growth in their personalities as well, when they finally realize at the end of The Red Pyramid making the right choice, is not often the easy choice.  And I think that's a great lesson that middle school aged kids need to learn and will be able to relate to.  Their choices may not mean the end of the world as we know it, but those choices are important for the students. 

The Red Pyramid and The Throne of Fire are both fast-paced, action-comedy novels that showcase the importance of family, friendships, love, choices, and growing up.  I recommend these books starting with 5th grade and up.  The humor in them helps balance out the sad, serious issues that these characters face.  I think that most students will be able to relate to Sadie and Carter, one way or another, and I think they'll enjoy learning about each of the characters, monsters and Gods.  They're easy books to get into, especially for the more reluctant male readers that like action.  And, there's enough almost romance between Carter and Zia/ Sadie, Anubis, and Walt (2nd book) to make the girls interested as well.

I highly recommend this series to your middle school students!  Encourage them to read, read, read!