The Wanderings Of Odysseus

The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff tells the tale of Odysseus, a Greek warrior, trying to get back home from the Trojan War.  The book is a version of the classic tale, The Odyssey by Homer, for younger readers. 

Odysseus comes along a giant cyclops on his way home.  He outsmarts the monster and blinds him.  He and most of his men escape, but foolishly he taunts the giant.  He calls to the giant that it is the great Odysseus that has blinded him.  But, the cyclops is son of Poseidon, and so he asks his mighty father to curse Odysseus. 

This book is very true to the title, The Wanderings of Odysseus, because he visits place after haunted, cursed and magical place, fighting off evil and trying to get back home to Penelope.  Will he make it back home?  Filled with monsters and gods, tragedy and miracles, this is a classic that people have enjoyed; and still enjoy! 

Don't worry, unlike most epic Greek tales of heroes, this one has a happy ending.  This was an excellent book, writen is a style that I haven't read much of.  I would highly recommend this book to everyone.  One of the really cool things about it is that things all around us pop out, because they reference back to the Greek tales.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

If you want a book of adventure, suspense, and coolness, then read The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. This book is very exciting.

It is about a boy named Percy and his 2 friends, Annabeth and Grover. Percy is the son of Poseidon, so they go on a quest to get back Zeus’s master bolt. In one part Percy is fighting the Minotaur and falls off the Minotaur and hits his head on a rock. Does he survive? Read this book to find out!

Second, this book really makes you wonder what will happen next. I would have never figured out who stole the lightning bolt without reading the whole book. And I never would have known if he gets out of Hades without some kind of curse.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure and suspense.

Guest Post by Mason

Dazzling Desserts

Dazzling Desserts by American Girl is a really cute book.  It had lots of ideas for fun and easy desserts to make with little or no assistance from the 'rents!  Same as everything else though, it did have a ton of clean up- so keep that in mind when you start something.  I made two cakes, one with penguins and a pumpkin patch.  The candy clay recipe was very nice, I loved it and was able to do some really cool stuff!  I would definitely pick up this book. 

Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games and has returned back home to district 12 with Peeta. The Capitol has been very angry with her because of stunts causing rebellion in many districts. They went on a tour through all of the districts to celebrate their victory, and learned that the Capitol was very harsh to all of the other districts. With the next Hunger Games coming soon, the Capitol decided to have the competitors be winners from other years. Katniss and Peeta go through many challenges throughout Catching Fire. This book was a very fun to read on account of its numerous fast-moving adventures that took twists and turns that I never saw coming.