Booktalk #1

The Lost Hero is the first book in a new Rick Riordan series about Camp Half-Blood, a camp for the mortal children of Greek gods, which he introduced in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books.  The three new campers in this book are Piper, a daughter of Aphrodite, who is very persuasive; Leo, a son of Hephaestus, who is a handyman; and Jason, a son of Zeus, who is suffering from amnesia. They were mentioned in Rachel’s prophesy about seven new demigods in The Last Olympians. Now that the Titan war is over, a new threat is on the horizon: a prophesied clash with the giants who are Gaea's youngest children. They are threatening to overthrow the Olympians. The three demigods, riding a bronze dragon, go on a quest to rescue Hera from one of the giants. Another giant is holding Piper's father hostage in the hope of making her betray her new friends. Fans of Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, who are looking for similar irreverent heroes, plenty of action-filled battles with monsters, and referencs to classical mythology mixed with modern life, will not be disappointed. The sequel, The Son of Neptune, is also available.  (Sharon Nehls for Colorado Blue Spruce Award, 2013)

Booktalk #2

[Props: Worksheets; coach/baseball cap. Print out four copies and recruit three teen volunteers to play the roles of Jason, Leo, and Coach Hodges. I find it easier if you highlight each script with different colros: yellow for Jason, blue for the narrator, etc.) You’re the narrator. Hand worksheets to Jason & Leo; the baseball cap to the Coach. Group Jason & Leo to one side, Coach Hodges and the narrator on the other.]

Narrator:  We join our characters on a field trip on a bridge over part of the Grand Canyon. They’re not really paying attention to the worksheet or the tour, because they’ve got bigger issues. And I’m not talking about the freak thunderstorm brewing over the canyon.  
Jason:  Seriously, Leo, you’re my friend, right?
Leo:  Last I checked.
Jason: So when did we meet? What did we talk about?
Leo: I...  I don’t remember. C’mon, I’m ADHD, man. You can’t expect me to remember the details...
Jason: But I don’t remember you at all. I don’t remember anyone here! What if--?
Leo: What if you’re right and everyone is wrong? You think you just magically appeared here this morning and we’ve all got fake memories of you? Even your girlfriend? Even PIPER?
Jason: Yes!
Coach Hodges: [walks over to Jason] Hey, kid: Are you doing this? [Gesture around you]
Jason: Do what--?? You mean... Are you seriously asking me if the thunderstorm is my fault?
Coach Hodges: [Glares at Jason, angrily]: Don’t play games with me! What are you doing here, and why are you messing up my job?
Jason: You mean... you don’t know me? I’m not one of your students?
Coach Hodges: Never seen you before!  Look kid, I don’t know who you are. I just know what you are, and it’s trouble. Now I got three of you to protect, not just two. . I can smell the monsters, and know he’s being stalked. [Point at “Leo".]
Leo: Monsters? Stalked--?!
Coach Hodges: Pipe down, Leo. [To “Jason”]  So I guess you’re the special package they told me about. I got a message from the camp about a special extraction team coming.  So if you’re the special package, just hang tight. We’ll get you to the camp and let the director sort it all out.
Jason: The camp? The director? What is going ON here??!!
Coach Hodges: Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing will happens before-
Narrator: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
That’s when the lightning struck the bridge and miniature tornados swirled down out of the sky, and Dylan, one of the kids on the field trip? He dissolved into black smoke and attacked them.
Jason Hodges, his “girlfriend” Piper and his buddy Leo are all demi-gods headed for Camp Half-Blood, where the children of the gods can grow up safe until they’re ready to fight the monsters who hunt them. The problem is that Leo and Piper and all his memories of them are totally fake. Jason has NO memories of his past. Worse he is prophesied to become the key to either saving the gods, and the half-bloods--or destroying them all.
Percy Jackson has gone missing. The titans are rising. And it’s all up to Jason, Leo and Piper...

(booktalk by Kirsten Edwards, King County Library System for Evergreen Young Adult Book Award 2013)