The Hidden Oracle - May 2017

[Savanes]

Winner of the Middle Grade Award

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan



How do you punish an immortal?

By making him human.

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus's favour.

But Apollo has many enemies—gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go... an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I wasn't planning to read this one, but it does sound good! Someone let me know if you think it will be good for a 7 year old. I may read it with my grandson this summer.

[Janina]

I'm not sure if I'll read it. I liked Percy Jackson, but it seems a bit repetitive. Different gods, but same kind of stories. I wish someone was other than Rick Riordan would get a chance to win this category, but since he puts out at least one of these per year, that's probably not going to happen until he retires. I think he's great, but I'd prefer something new.
I'll see if I find the time this month .. not super high on my priority list.

[Janina]

In general, I think RR's books are geared towards older elementary school kids up to middle school. 7 is definitely on the young side (and many of the jokes/references are beyond the middle school age group for sure). But, I haven't read this volume yet

[Janina]

I ended up reading this after all as I needed something light and easy. I liked it ... Apollo is a fun character ... love the humor, but there's too much repetitive action in these books. They all feel the same. I don't think this one is well suited for a 7year old. Depends on the child I guess, but the humor might be beyond them and they won't get any of the pop culture references. I would start with Percy Jackson anyways .. not this one as it builds on many of the previous events.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Thanks, Janina. I knew some of it would be over his head, but he loves action stuff. My concern is always that the fight scenes can be a bit graphic, particularly for his age group. I'll skip it and stick to the books I have planed.

[Janina]

I think the fight scenes aren't too bad as long as he doesn't get scared by monsters. However, there is quite a bit of focus on teenage relationships .. everything obviously PG-level, but Apollo thinks and talks a lot about his previous loves and there are many girlfriend/boyfriend things going on. My 9-year-old is currently reading the Harry Potter series and she was often making fun of the whole Viktor Krum - Hermione affair, but she also thinks the idea of kissing a boy/girl is totally gross etc ... so that's about the extent of romance she wants in her books ... I think the interest starts to change around 4th/5th grade and that's where I would put the Rick Riordan books past the initial Percy Jackson series (that one was more action/fights/friends). Not that these books are romantic or anything like it, but it's an ongoing topic in the Heroes of Olympus series and apparently this one (even more so). Which I love because it's very inclusive, but might annoy/bore a younger child.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I can see that. I'm sure he wouldn't be interested in the romantic relationships either. I'm planning on reading The Phantom Tollbooth, Pippi Longstocking, Matilda, Clementine and the Spring Trip, and maybe Smells Like Dog with him this summer. A couple of them are audio for when he's in the car with me. He love to listen to audios. :) Last summer, we listened to the whole Clementine series, except for the one above. He loved them.

I find that a lot of the books we read together have strong female leads and I'd like to add a couple with strong male characters for him, which is why I was thinking of this one. Unfortunately, I think it will fall into the same category as Serafina and the Black Cloak did last summer, which is to wait until he is older or read it by myself. We have plenty of time, since he's only turning 8 this summer. No need to rush.

[Janina]

How about the first Harry Potter? The later ones are probably a bit too scary, but the first one might be fine to read together?

I only have girls, so I'm always happy with strong female characters. But, it does seem like there are a lot of children's/middle school and young adult books centered around strong girls these days.

The Neverending story might also be a nice choice if he is ready for stories that take a while to develop. Or perhaps the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins?
Dragon Rider (Cornelia Funke) is another option that works very well to read aloud and should be good for that age. And, it's not a series but contained within the one book.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Thanks, Janina. I will look into those too. I also have daughters, so this is new with having a boy around. :) I think the first Harry Potter wound be really good for him, but I just finished a re-read with the group in January. I'm not sure I want to read it again this year. If I run out of books that look good I may, but more likely it will wait for another time. Maybe next summer.

How did you rate this one as an adult reading it. I may read it on my own. I read The Heroes of Olympus series and thought it was good. It definitely read like a middle school book, but it was entertaining.

[Janina]

I enjoyed it. Apollo is a truly fun character because he's so over-the-top. It had me chuckling a few times. For me, there are just too many scenes where they are chasing something, running around somewhere followed by or fighting against monsters and so on .. that just bores me. But, it's not really any different than any of the other books .. so if you like those, you're probably going to like this one as well. However, it's open-ended .. and who knows how many books this series is going to contain?

[Kristie, Moderator]

I've been known to skim a fight scene... not my favorite part. I may wait for more of the series to come out before starting.

[Lynn, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "I've been known to skim a fight scene... not my favorite part. I may wait for more of the series to come out before starting."

I'm totally waiting until the series ended / close to ending

[Kristie, Moderator]

I finally read this book in preparation for our group read of The Dark Prophecy in June. I really enjoyed it. I think Rick Riordan writes interesting and fun middle grade mythological stories.

I'm glad that I read the Heroes of Olympus series because I knew who some of the side characters were and a little of the history. I did not read the Percy Jackson series first, but I think I'll need to go back and read those too.

[Savanes]

I'm glad you liked it Kristie. I love Rick Riordan's style however I find that after reading a few of his books, he seems to apply the same recipe. It gets less entertaining and memorable.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I agree with that, Savanes. I was done for a while after finishing the Heroes of Olympus. I think it was good that I took some time off before reading this one. It would have been good to have read the Percy Jackson series beforehand for content, but I think I would have really tired of the story.