How has J.K. Rowling not sued?????

I just finished a book that I bought in the children's section of Barnes and Noble. It is about a young boy who has black hair and bright green eyes who goes and learns about special powers he had no idea he had at a boarding school.

Okay, so it wasn't a boarding school, it was more of a summer camp that can double as a school if the kids have no where to go during the school year. And Percy Jackson is not a wizard. He is a demi-god.

The book I am talking about is Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

The buzz that I had heard about the book before I bought it was that it was as good as Harry Potter. Upon finishing the book, I am left to conclude: as good as? Not exactly. Ripped off? Definitely.

I understand that all literature is inspired, but there is a fine line between inspiration and plagarism.

The book definitely had some unique aspects. It places the Olympian Gods of ancient Greece on Mount Olympus. That was not the original aspect, obviously. In this book, Mount Olympus is located at the top of the Sears Tower. I had not actually read any present day adaptations of Greek Mythology, so that was quite interesting.

But as mentioned before, did Percy really need to have black hair and bright green eyes? Did he really need to go off on an adventure with his best friend and a girl who was not really their friend but was a lot smarter than they were? I could have done without it. At least make the best friend the girl, and the brainiac the boy. And would blonde hair really have killed him?

That being said, it definitely had some redeeming qualities. For instance, it teaches kids that learning disabilities such as ADHD can definitely be a strength instead of a weakness. Percy is dyslexic as well, though that is more of a hindrance. It is reasoned away that all of the children of the Gods are dyslexic because their minds are programed for ancient Greek. Will this get dyslexic children thinking that they might be the children of the Olympians? Maybe. But hey, I looked outside on my 11th birthday waiting to see if my Hogwarts letter had arrived yet. It is obvious that the children who are old enough to read this book will be old enough to differentiate between reality and fiction. Hopefully.

Was it a terrible book? No. Would I recommend it to kids Percy's age? Definitely. It was a fairly exciting story with a lot of action. It is something that they might actually want to put down their video games to read? Possibly.

Would I recommend it to adults? No, but it wasn't written for adults.

The audience it was written for could and, judging by the fact that it was a best seller and the movie that will be coming out this month, do enjoy reading it immensely. And for that, despite my complaints, I will give it a positive rating.

The Talented Mr. Ripley

For one of my classes this year, I had to read the book, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Mos tof the books in this class, including The Secret Agent, I have not liked. This one was different. It is about a con man, Tom Ripley, who begins to admire the life an acquaintance leads in Europe. He admires it so much, that he murders the guy and takes over his life, convincing everyone that he is Dickie Greenleaf. The plot is fairly complex, but the book is easy to read and incredibly entertaining. When I have time, I might look into the sequels. I believe there are five total books featuring Tom Ripley.

One thing that must be said, is that the movie is not as good. Judging by the reviews online, it must be a fairly good movie if you have never read the book. However, when comparing it to the book, it just does not hold up. The movie adds characters and plot lines in an effort to make an already complex storyline even more complex, but the result is that the magic is lost.

My suggestion, read the book, forget the movie. That is not that surprising, as the only movie i have found so far that is better than the book, as I have mentioned before, was My Sister's Keeper.

Not Your Average Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat

Reuben was the eldest of the children of Israel, with Simeon and Levi the next in line. Naphatali and Isachar and Asher and Gad, Zebulon and Dan took the total to nine. Jacob, Jacob and sons, Benjamin and Judah, which leaves only one. Jacob, Jacob and sons, Joseph, Jacob's favorite son.

But wait a minute, where does Dinah fit in????? Most people haven't even heard of her. But she's there. She is Jacob's thirteenth living child, nine months older than Joseph. Completely ignored in the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, she is almost ignored in the Bible, save for mention of her birth and a comment that she was raped and her brothers avenging her.

However, Anita Diamant decided that this brief mention was the hint at a much larger story, and she set out to tell that story. The result was one of the best books I have ever read.

The Red Tent tells not only the story of Dinah, but also of Rachel, Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah, Jacobs four wives. The story revolves around the tradition of the red tent, into which women go when they "feel the pull of the moon". Once a month, when the women are on their periods, they sit together and share stories, allowing the children to take care of them and fetch them their food and drink for once instead of the other way around.

It opens with a prologue, where Dinah's voice comes from beyond the grave, lamenting what has become of the story. "We have been lost to each other for so long. My name means nothing to you, My memory is dust. This is not your fault, or mine. The chain connecting mother to daughter was broken, and the word passed to the keeping of men, who had no way of knowing. This is why I became a footnote." And so she starts her tale of what really happened to her, of the secrets that the women shared, of the rituals that the men could never know about.

It feels like nothing is left out of this book. It is divided into three sections. The first is entitled "My Mothers' Stories" which chronicle all of the many births, miscarriages, and the now famous deception in which Leah and Rachel were switched on Rachel's wedding day, and Leah actually married Jacob instead. However, even this is given an original twist, for it is Rachel's idea in the first place. It goes into detail about each of the four wives, all of whom Dinah calls her mothers, and shows why she loves each one individually. The second is called "My Story". This picks up when Dinah is a young child, old enough to narrate her life. It includes her childhood, during which she was Joseph's best friend, and goes through young adulthood. The third section is "Egypt", which is where Dinah eventually ends up and spends the rest of her days.

This original tale seems to take a unique spin on all of the Bible stories that people have come to know and love. It is not always happy and cheerful. In fact, it is more often than not incredibly emotional. But it seems real. You can feel Dinah's pain along with her. You can sympathize with her and truly understand her.

My only complaint is that the voice of the narrator is consistent throughout. Normally this would be the exact opposite of a complaint, however, Dinah chronicles her entire life. Yet, the voice when she was a toddler was the same as when she was an old woman. It was difficult to notice the passing of time because of this. I did not realize she was older than maybe twenty five tops when it mentioned she was closer to forty.

Though it is a thick book, it is not difficult by any means. I encourage everyone, not just those who are religious to look into it.

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

My name is Ruby.
This book is about me.

It tells the deeply hideous story
of what happens when my mother dies
and I'm dragged three thousand miles away
from my gorgeous boyfriend, Ray,
to live in L.A. with my father,
who I've never even met
because he's such a scumbag that he
divorced my mom before I was born.

The only way I've ever even seen him
is in the movies,
since he's this mega-famous actor
who's been way too busy
trying to win Oscars
to even visit me once in fifteen years.

Everyone loves my father.
Everyone but me.

I did it. I broke my New Years resolution. I bought my first book. Not only did I buy a book, but it was one that I have not only read many times, but even owned it already.

Let me explain. Four years ago, I bought a book called One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. I loved it. I read it many times, and loaned it to many people, and just all around loved it. Two and a half years ago, I loaned it to a friend. She kept telling me she was going to read it, never did, and never gave it back no matter how many times I asked. Over the years, I have considered rebuying it, but I never gave up hope that she would eventually return it. Also, they redesigned the cover, and the new one was hideous, but that was an entirely different issue. Well, two weeks ago, I had a major falling out with that friend. I have given up hope of the friendship being resolved any time soon, instead deciding to look fondly back on the memories we had, while letting go at the same time.

I was at the bookstore on Sunday, and was looking around the young adult section, and I saw the book. Not only did I see the book, but it was the old cover. I decided it was fate, and I must buy it. And so I did. I had really fond memories of this book, and I really wanted to read it again. It was hysterically funny, and made fun of all of the Lurlene McDaniel books I read so many of when I was in middle school.

Well, for those of you who know me well and have done the math, you'll realize I had not read it since my mother passed away, and I wondered if it would mean something different to me if I read it now.

It did.

The book is about Ruby Milliken, a 15 year old girl, whose mother has just recently passed away. It starts on a plane, which Ruby is on, on her way to live with her father, who she has never met, and really does not want to live with. It sounds like every other book written about a teenage girl whose mother dies. Except that her father turns out to be an Oscar winning actor in Hollywood. The book follows her life as she adjusts to living with a man who is acting like he wants to be the perfect father, yet ignored her the first fifteen years. She misses her best friend, her aunt, her boyfriend, and, more than anything else, her mom. Her only ally in this new strange land (she's originally from Boston), is her dad's gay assistant, Max, who does his best to mediate between her and her father.

The book is beautifully written, set up as a book of poems that make up Ruby's diary. The poems either deal with her mother's death, or her relationship with her father, rarely both. I can't speak for what it is like to move in with your movie star father, but as someone who lost her mother, I feel that the feelings are nailed perfectly. It tugged at my heart, and stirred up memories, but not in a bad way.

I reccomend this book to anyone who wants a quick, entertaining, enjoyable read. It will take no longer than a few hours, and it is completely worth it.

Luck in the Shadows

This was the second time I have read this book. And once the year is over and I allow myself to reread books again, I'm going to read it first thing. Because it is amazing. Let me elaborate.

Let's start with the basic plot, shall we? It takes the basic fantasy storyline and adds a few twists in that make it fairly original, or at least as original as a fantasy story can be.

It opens on bad guys, doing bad things, though we can't really tell what they are doing. After two pages it switches to the main character of the story, Alec, as he sits in a jail cell, having just been tortured for information he does not have. He wants to die, but knows that his captors are purposely leaving him alive so that they can sell him to slavers eventually. Great. More fun. Luck is on his side however, and a man is thrown into his cell who helps him escape. Seregil claims to be a bard and offers to take Alec on as an apprentice. Alec has no where else to go because he is an orphan (stop groaning, I already warned you it follows the basic fantasy storyline) so he follows Seregil around, learning all he has to teach. It turns out Seregil is more than just a bard, but also a Watcher. Not like the Buffy kind of Watcher, more like a spy. He works for a wizard named Nysander (who, if you would like to continue on the Buffy analogies, is actually more like a Watcher. A Giles type Watcher. Not a Seregil type Watcher. You catch my drift) who accepts Alec as a Watcher as well. However, Seregil and Alec are getting in further over their heads than they know, and it is obvious that trouble is brewing.

Over all, this is one of my favorite book series. It is unique enough to keep you into it yet standard enough that you can follow it. Some of the background characters have similar names so it is slightly hard to keep track of them to begin with, but in the end, that does not detract from the overall enjoyment or ability to understand it.

My one complaint is that it was slightly difficult to get into the first time I read it. The beginning is fairly uneventful because they need to set so much stuff up, and it gets slightly tedious. The second they meet Nysander, however, this all changes and the book is nearly impossible to put down.

When I read books, I immediately begin to think about which famous actors or actresses I would cast in the different roles. This book is the only exception I have found. The characters are so real, that they seem like real people to me. I cannot picture anyone playing them, because I can picture them so clearly as is. She has painted a near perfect image of these characters, and forgive the cliche, but I feel like the literally jump off of the page. I feel like I could really know them, and actually be friends with them.

I definitely recommend this book. Plow through the beginning, and don't give up, because, in the end, it is definitely worth it.