Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

I haven't written a book review for awhile so I thought I'd write one about the book I read today. Today I read Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs. I bought this book about a year ago, but for one reason or another it kept getting pushed to the bottom of my pile. Well, I couldn't put it off any longer - I had to read it. This week I started teaching Greek Mythology. I have some books about Greek Mythology that I recommend to my students, but I need more. Because of this, it was time to read Oh. My. Gods. I'm glad I did because I liked it a lot.

Phoebe Castro is the main character in the novel, Oh. My. Gods. Phoebe is a 17-year old girl who loves to run and is banking on an athletic scholarship for college. She has it all mapped out - all she has to do is maintain good grades during her senior year and continue doing well in cross country. All that is put into jeopardy when her mother announces she's remarrying and both her and Phoebe are moving to Greece. Things get even worse when Phoebe learns her new step-father is the headmaster of an exclusive private school with only has one admissions requirement - students must be a direct descendant from one of the Greek Gods. Reluctantly, the school makes an exception for Phoebe. Needless to say, in a school in which the entire student body has the blood of the Gods coursing through their veins, Phoebe has a difficult time fitting in. She has run-ins with the popular descendants of Zeus, the Goth-like descendants of Hades, and cheerleader descendants of Aphrodite.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to read about Greek Mythology with a little twist.

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod is a series of books written by Heather Brewer. The first book in the series is Eight Grade Bites, the second book is Ninth Grade Slays, and the third book is Tenth Grade Bleeds. The books follows Vladimir Tod, a half-vampire/half-human teenager, as he tries to live a normal teenage life - well, as normal as can be expected when you are a blood-drinking vampire. Not only does Vlad face the problems of an everyday teenager (school, grades, bullies, girls, etc.), he also has to deal with life as a vampire. And it's not an easy vampire life for Vlad - hiding the fact that he drinks blood, avoiding garlic, improving his mind-control abilities, and battling the evil vampire, D'Ablo. Fans of the vampire genre, will certainly enjoy these books.

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

During the past school year, a student recommended a new fantasy series to me. The series is The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott. Three books in this series have been published so far (The Alchemyst, The Magician, and The Sorceress), but Scott is working on at least three more (The Necromancer, The Warlock, and The Enchantress). I had briefly heard of this series, but hadn't personally known anyone who had read it. I'm so glad my student read it and recommended it because it has been great!!

I love that the series mixes fantasy, mythology, and history.

The fantasy - Before humans (or as they're refered to in the book, humani) ruled the earth, the earth was ruled by a powerful race of Elders and their children The Next Generation. When this race fell from power, they retreated into Shadowrealms, other dimensions connected to earth. Throughout human history, the Elders have been plotting to return to earth. Their return depends upon the magical Codex, or Book of Abraham. The book not only contains the Final Summoning (the spell that will bring the Elders from their Shadowrealms into the world again), but the spells for immortality and the philosopher's stone.

Mythology - Where to begin? The book references all sorts of myths - the lost island of Atlantis, vampires, the Greek and Roman Gods, werewolves, the Egyptian sphinx, King Arthur and Excalibur.

History - People throughout history have learned of the Elders, the Book of Abraham, and the Final Summoning. Some have sided with the Elders and have been granted immortality for their loyality. Some of these include Dr. John Dee, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Billy the Kid. Others have acheived immortality through other means and are doing everything in their power to fight againt the Dark Elders and the immortals who work for them. Some of these individuals include Nicholas Flamel, Joan of Arc, and William Shakespeare.

This is a great fantasy series filled with magic and mystery. I highly recommend it.

The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian came out on May 5th, but I just finished it this week. It is the 5th book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. This school year I had my students read the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief. This was the best academic decision I have ever made as a teacher. My students loved the book. About 50 of my students finished the book ahead of schedule and went on to read another book in the series. Every copy of the series was checked out of the school library and a parent told me every copy of the series was checked out of the local library. As a class we talked about the novel and Greek Mythology (which the series is based on) constantly, even after we had finished the novel and moved on to read something else. My students even had a count down to the release of book five, The Last Olympian. After May 5th, I had a dozen students who had bought the book. They quickly finished it and passed it on to another student who couldn't afford to buy it themselves. It was great to see!! I loved it. It's what a reading class should be all about.

Anyway, so I finally read it. Although it was not my favorite in the series, it was a great way to wrap up the series. If you haven't started this FANTASTIC series, head to your local library NOW!!