The Blood of Olympus

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan is an amazing book...I have been reading the series since I was in fifth grade (with a new book being released each year) and I'm very sad to see this book series come to end this year, with this being book 5. I have absolutely loved this book series, because with Rick Riordan you get to truly know the characters experience and feel what they are during the book.

I also like one thing in particular that I find very interesting, Rick Riordan has done this in every single Percy Jackson book and I love it and the way he makes it amazing. The way he gives each character a chapter and you can sense what will play out in each chapter just based on the character. Then when you see that a characters chapter from a few chapters ago, lines up with the current chapter. It's kind of like an ah-ha moment for me and I love the way Rick does it. Because I have read some other books where the author tries to do this but utterly fails but on the other hand there are also good examples like The Color of Water where the author just makes it flow in such an amazing manor. I'm about a little more than half way done with the book and it's crazy because some conclusions are being made and its interesting seeing the way that Rick Riordan is wrapping up the book. Let me know if anyone of you other bloggers have read this series and let me know what you think!

I found this interesting video about what The Blood of Olympus might look like if it were a movie (and yes some of this footage is from other movies)

MultiCultrual Memoir Post - A Long Way Gone

MultiCultural Memoir Post

Picture of Ishmael Beah today

By: Ryan Edelbach

Our blog post is about A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah.  We found the main central idea is that people have the ability to change.  At first, Ishmael was a very kind person and had room for emotions but as war struck him hard right where it mattered most. His family. He began to change over the course of many chapters. He is controlled by pure revenge for his family and will stop at nothing to kill anyone who stands in his way. All he wants to do everyday, is slaughter more people for revenge, do drugs and watch movies. He does this for quite some time before his lieutenant tells them that they have done their duties as soldiers and must become real children now. Ishmael is absolutely outraged by his decision and does not understand that choice. Over the course of months, he is changed from being reliant on drugs and being violent, to a calm child that he once used to be. He then gets to speak about his experiences in front of The United Nations (U.N.) Overall, this book was very moving and just a great book for anyone to read, even though it can be gory, it teaches an important moral during the course of the book.

I feel as the First Article relating to the central idea because the article is about how people will change as their personality change and that can relate to the central idea because Ishmael’s personality changed as he sought out vengeance and he changed drastically. Then once he stopped seeking vengeance, he slowly eased back to his old life. This can relate to the article because as Ishmael’s view on the world and his personality changed, he did things he would regret in his later life. The article also describes how some people have a short term thinking kind of mind, they make choices that they will no longer like in years to come, that is present because Ishmael is invading villages and killing people whom he doesn't know.

The Second Article can relate to the central idea because the article is about how people fail to recognize they will change in the future even though they have changed in the past and they fail to realize that too. I feel like this can be related to Ishmael and the main idea because he did some crazy stuff when he was running around with his squad and not once did he look back upon his old life, and he didn't bother to think about where he would be tomorrow. To him, I felt like, it was all about him, right then and there and there was no looking ahead. The article also states that people at a younger age change must faster so that can be related to Ishmael because he is only a young boy and he can be changed per say more easily than if an adult was in his position.

If anyone out there is reading A Long Way Gone as well, I would be interested in hearing some of your comments/thoughts and opinions on the book!