My Magical and Mythical Reader Response

My Reader Response

4/2/11 V.R 8D

               I am responding to "The Lost Hero" by Rick Riordan. I have read 353 pages out of 553. This text is mythical fiction.

            Even though this book is a connected to the "Percy Jackson" Series, the theme, characters and many other characteristics of the story have changed leaving only some things the same. The main characters included in this story are: Piper (Daughter of Aphrodite), Leo (Son of Hephaestus) and Jason (Son of Zeus). They are the protagonists. The protagonists are the good guys. They are the protagonists because they watch out for each other and aren't involved in any evil activity. The antagonists are Hera (The goddess of marriage) and Kronos's army. The antagonists are the bad guys. They are the bad guys because they try and kill people. They also build monsters and dangerous weapons. The genre of this book is mythical fiction because it contains a lot of information about gods (goddesses), potions, poisons, daggers/swords and other many ancient Greek objects while still entertaining the modern- day reader. The main settings so far in the story are Camp Half-Blood, the sky and a few 20th century areas. With all the exciting scenes so far, I am sure that there are many more interesting and exotic settings that are about to be visited by the three demi gods. I can't wait to see where they travel to next. The conflict in the story so far is Jason trying to get back his stolen memory. While he and his friends, Leo and Piper try to track down Hera to get it back, they search for Percy on their way. It all started when Jason woke up on a bus holding hands with Piper (his assumed 'girlfriend') and not being able to remember who or where he was. Then when he appeared at Camp Half Blood, and Percy was pronounced missing. So they decided that they would look for him on their way to find Hera. One of the other reasons why they went to go find Hera is because she killed Leo's mother by creating a magical killing fire. Therefore Leo wants to take revenge. It's all up to Jason and his friends to get to Hera and stop her before it’s too late. The theme so far in this narrative is trust. The theme is trust because Leo, Piper and Jason are just learning about their powers and they have to trust each other that they will all do their part in this adventure. Another conflict in this mythical fable is revenge. It is revenge because Leo is going to kill Hera for killing his mother and Jason is going to kill Hera because she took away all his special memories. The author used foreshadowing when he said" I heard stomping a few meters away from where I was resting my foot and then I heard, Piper,you can come out now, everything is ok." From my knowledge I think that the person talking to Piper is a Cyclops and not Jason because Cyclops can mimic people’s voices. I know that Cyclops can mimic voices because from the earlier books in the series, there was a book and it's storyline was all about Cyclops’s. Another reason why I think it was a Cyclops talking to her is because she heard stomping in the background and those one eyed monsters aren't small, so I guessed that it was a Cyclops that was going to capture and eat her.
Retell
           The author got me interested when Aphrodite claimed Piper as her child. She was the only one that hadn't been claimed yet at Camp Half Blood, so everyone was making fun of her. Then she suddenly started glowing and she transformed into a beautiful shining teenage girl. She was dressed in a long flowing cream gown with gold bangles and her hair curled like she was a goddess herself. Jason and all the other men at the camp fell in love with her and all the other Aphrodite children were jealous. When Piper transformed back to her normal self, Jason suddenly realized her inner beauty and suddenly felt more drawn to her in a different way. He didn't want to be just her friend anymore; he wanted to be more than that. Whenever they were alone, he didn't know what to say to her because he was so nervous, so they just didn't talk to each other. Piper felt like their friendship was coming to an end until he finally became a man and started talking to her. My favourite character is Leo because he isn’t full of himself or greedy. He doesn't carry any of those traits because he came from living on the street and when you live on the street you don't have that ability to feel those things. He loves using things until they can't be made into anything .He also doesn't waste anything that he makes or finds. Another great quality about Leo that makes me love him unlike the other demi’s is his great sense of hope and unselfishness. He doesn’t take things for granted unlike Jason and Piper. If his friends are hungry or in need of something he can’t fix mentally or physically, he will give up what he has or his spare time to help them. For example, when they were stuck in the sewer and his magical tool belt made the three of them food to eat, he gave his friends more because he knew his friends had worked harder than him that day so they deserved it. His motto that his dad taught him was that you can always re-use things because materials are always important. This book really showed me the real meaning of friendship because they really look out for each other during life questioning moments. For example: Piper, Leo and Jason were at a potion, poison and armor clothing store and came across Medea. She eventually tried to kill them and because she was a siren she could charm speak them. Charm speaking is when you can persuade someone to do something by just talking to them with your magical voice. Piper had to break Medea's force between her and the boys. That is a very hard task to complete but she ended up charm speaking them to listen to her instead of Medea. Piper's charm speak level was stronger than Medea's. Piper didn't have to help her friends. She could have run and saved herself but she loves her friends so she decided to help them. Thank-goodness she did that or else Leo and Jason would have been blown into little bits and I wouldn’t have wanted that to happen. I want Jason and Piper to get together so that if Jason got hurt Piper could try to protect him. If they can save each other from poisonous potions and crazy demi seeking seers, than I can hang out with someone or sit with someone who doesn't have a lot of friends to make their day. A small deed can mean more than just taking a day out of your life to do something nice, but it makes the person feel a burst of reassurance and hope that people actually like them.　
Relate
            If I could be any character I would Piper. I would want to be Piper because she is the most independent, strong, brave and insanely smart girl who has ever been on a quest that has been claimed by Aphrodite. When she is on that quest she shows the guys that she is more than a nail- filing, hair brushing girl who is afraid to break a nail. She was claimed to be Daughter of Aphrodite but she doesn't let that get to her. She shows those boys that she doesn't need saving, that she can save herself. When really most of the time she saves them .I hope that’s going to be me one day, because I want to be just like Piper. She is a strong independent girl who would be a great person to be like one day. Another reason I would want to be Piper is because she doesn't care what people think. She just cares what she thinks of herself. She is an Aphrodite daughter and she wears trench coats, baggy pants, big army boots and her hair in a ponytail. She bites her nails, never paints them and sometimes her hair has knots in it. Another trait that I would like to have is that she excels in charisma. She could walk into a room full of strangers and start introducing herself and talk to them as if she's known them forever. That shows courage with a dash of generosity, care and kindness. If I could talk to anyone in this narrative it would have to be Leo. I would talk to Leo because I would want to know what it’s like having your mother die in a fire, go to a private school, end up having magical powers just like your friends and finding out that the lady that really killed your mother was the marriage goddess. I would say that he has had a really rough life and I would want to know what that felt like growing up without having that special someone to ask when you need help or have questions about growing up. Another thing I would ask him is why hasn't he asked his magic tool belt to grow a money tree to be rich? As I get farther into the book I will probably realize that he isn’t a materialistic type of person and that he would probably rather live on the street and have friends then live in a mansion and not have friends because you were being a rich obnoxious person. If I were to have a long conversation with him, the first thing I would ask him is are you hungry? I would ask him that because if I lived on the streets I would be starving. I would probably feel like dying because of food deprivation. Then I would tell him that if he was ever in trouble and needed a place to stay he could count on me. I would not only say that because he hasn't slept in a bed for a long time and probably needs a shower but because he needs comfort and family in his heart. He has been without that for quite some time. So I would try to help him because his life was probably very lonely as a child. If he knew that he had someone to count on and call them a family he would probably feel like the richest person in the world.
Reflect

             This text reminded me of responsibility. It reminded me of responsibility because everyone has their own responsibilities in life and in this book. Leo, Jason and Piper have their own responsibilities while fighting others while on this quest. Piper's responsibility is to charm speak people into hurting their enemies. This is when Leo's part comes in to play. Leo's responsibility is to ask his magical tool belt for things to kill his enemies with. When he has hurt them enough with what his magical belt has thrown at them, he then uses his mighty fireball to finish them off. Finally Jason's winning moves. Jason’s responsibility is to fly above his enemies and swirl so fast on their head that it pops off. He also uses lightning to electrocute his enemies until their blood reaches such a high temperature that it boils and they die. If they all go through with their responsibilities and do them correctly, then these minor fights they've been having will become easier and easier for them. I would really like to start reading Rick Riordan’s new series that takes place in Egypt. If he can include lots of facts about Greek mythology in this book and make it interesting, then I can't imagine what he can do with the great royal Egyptian history. My feelings about Jason being the top leader at Camp Half Blood and about his friends has changed now. Now that Leo has gained a power on top of being able to ask his belt for killing tools, he has the ability to become a strong and fierce Camp Leader and Hero. He is much stronger and wiser than Jason and sometimes smarts are stronger than strength. Not only would Leo be able to beat monsters to their death easily, but he would be able to make great team plans and strategies to save them all. Then they would never be under a major attack again. I would recommend this book to anyone with an amazing imagination and with a love for reading. If you have the ability to consume such a great story line then you can handle the extreme feelings and mind blowing sensation that this book has to offer! This book doesn't only get me into its charmed speak spell every time I open it but it’s irresistible romantic love story makes me want to marry the couple. You think reading is boring; well this will take you for a quest that you will never forget. Your reading experience will never be the same once you have this through your head. "CHARM SPEAK COMMENCING..."