Wednesday Morning Book Review, for Big Kids: “Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead” (Book Three), by Rick Riordan; “Frenemies in the Family: Famous Brothers and Sisters Who Butted Heads and Had Each Other’s Backs,” by Kathleen Krull and Maple Lam
Rick Riordan, you writing machine you. His latest is called, for short, “The Ship of the Dead.” For long, it’s called “Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead, Book Three in the Series.” (Disney-Hyperion, 2017, 421 pages, $19.99.)
It’s pretty fantastic, as are all of his series. Riordan knows how to keep the readers happy. He starts with funny chapter titles, for example: “I Have a Nightmare About Toenails,” (weird, me, too!), “I Roll Play-Doh to the Death,” “Mallory Gets Nuts,” (followed, of course, by) “Mallory Also Gets Fruit,” “I Become as Poetic as… Like, a Poetic Person,” etc.
Riordan’s other series are “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” “The Demigod Files,” “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods,” “The Kane Chronicles,” “The Heroes of Olympus,” “The Demigod Diaries,” “Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard” and “The Trials of Apollo.”
Next up:
“Frenemies in the Family: Famous Brothers and Sisters Who Butted Heads and Had Each Other’s Back.” (Crown/New York, 2018, by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Maple Lam, ages 8-12, 229 pages, $17.99.) I wouldn’t limit this one to any specific age group. People often think that kids (and some adults, for that matter) don’t enjoy learning about history. They do. You just need to lively it up is all. This book does that, handily. I love it — I’ve read about half the bios already and will read the rest, too. Favorites so far: Theo and Vincent Van Gogh, art dealer and artist; Chang and Eng Bunker, the conjoined twins; Queens Elizabeth I and Mary I (Bloody Mary)… sooooo good.
Bon appetit, babies. Happy reading!
— WM