This is a book report I had to write for school.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, is a fantasy novel of 377 pages. This story takes place in New York.

Perseus Jackson is a normal 12-year-old kid…so he thinks. He attends Yancy Academy, a private school for “troubled kids”. Percy has ADHD and dyslexia. He’s been expelled from every school he’s ever been to, and Yancy is no exception. While on a field trip, he gets in trouble with the school bully, kleptomaniac Nancy Bobofit. His math teacher, Mrs. Dodds, asks to speak with Percy in private. She then reveals herself to be a Fury, a demon creature from Greek mythology. Mr. Brunner, Percy’s Latin teacher, tosses him a ballpoint pen which immediately grows into a three-foot long bronze sword. Percy quickly and confusedly kills the Fury, and is later expelled for failing classes and calling his English teacher and “old sot”. Percy’s only and best friend, Grover Underwood, turns out to be a satyr, and Percy a half-blood; half-human, half-god. His mother takes him to Half-Blood camp, a summer camp for demigods and satyrs. There Percy has many adventures, makes many friends, and discovers his true identity. At camp he learns how to sword-fight, ride Pegasi, and scale a lava-spraying, rock throwing, clashing climbing wall. But that’s the least of his problems. Zeus’ master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy’s father, Poseidon, is the prime suspect. So Percy, son of Poseidon, Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and Grover the satyr go on a quest for Zeus’ master bolt, and discover many things on the way; about the quest, themselves, and each other. They have many adventures; they are transformed into guinea pigs, come face-to-face with Medusa, discover the gate to the Underworld, and literally journey to Hades and back.

One can learn many lessons from Percy’s character. Two traits that stand out are his compassion and loyalty to his friends. Percy gives everyone a chance, no matter how evil they are, and never give up on them when they turn against him. One example is Ethan Nakamura. Percy saved his life in the Labyrinth, and Ethan repays him by trying to kill him. When his friends are in danger, Percy will stop at nothing to save them, even if they have been treating him poorly.

There are many well-written passages in this book. One passage occurs when Percy first sees Olympus.

From the top of the clouds rose the decapitated peak of a mountain, it’s summit covered with snow. Clinging to the mountainside were dozens of multileveled palaces – a city of mansions – all with white-columned porticoes, gilded terraces, and bronze braziers glowing with with a thousand fires. Roads wound crazily up to the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow. Precariously perched gardens bloomed with olive trees and rosebushes.

I liked this book because it’s full of thrilling adventures and has a humorous modern point of view to Greek mythology. Readers will be glad to know that the series doesn’t end there; Riordan has written four more page-turners, each one better than the last. If there is one word that describes this book: Awesome.

I’m stuck. Does anyone have any ideas for a poem I can write? Any ideas? I don’t care how dumb they are. Anyone? Hmm?

This is Anja. This is a story I made up.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far, far, far away there lived a princess in the tallest tower. And this princess wished that a prince would come and save her. So she waited in the tower for a long time. And then finally, a prince came. And he slayed the dragon. And he saved her from the tower. And then he took her to a castle far, far away from the tower. And he dropped her off and went back to his home. And then the prince came back and asked if she wanted to marry him. And the princess said yes. And they all lived happily ever after.  And then a terrible dragon came, and then it ate the king and the queen. Then the prince came and slayed the dragon again. The next day, the exact same dragon came to life…again! And then he slayed the dragon for the last time, and it stayed dead. And then they all lived happily ever after…maybe. There might still be more, though. And then all the dragons came. And then he tried to slay all of them. And he didn’t make it. The princess went out to look for another prince. And she found one and they got married and they lived happily ever after. The End.

By, Anja.

Like Emma just said, we got back from CO two days ago. We stayed in a friend’s cabin in the woods, which was surrounded by the spectacular Rocky mountains, ranging from 12 to 14 thousand feet.  We did a lot of fun stuff…we climbed a 12,000′ mountain (although, we drove most of the way…but we climbed the last 600), we fed and petted wild chipmunks (they were used to tourists), we visited a ghost town (from the mid-1800s!), we visited the Focus on the Family headquarters (and Whit’s End), we went to a sweet shop in Boulder ( Anja’s personal favorite) that had basically any kind of candy you can imagine, even those chocolate frogs with collectible wizard cards from Harry Potter, and Jelly Belly’s flavored disgusting things like boogers and pepper (yuck)! My favorite part was (I’m crazy about wolves), this thing where they rescued and tamed wolves and wolf-dogs. I got to go into a cage with these two wolves, Ranger and Willow. Ranger was pretty shy, but Willow was very friendly. She let me rub her belly and she even licked my face (now I can say I’ve been kissed by a wolf, and that doesn’t happen every day).

We DID do a LOT of fun stuff in Colorado, but we also got to see God’s amazing work. How can people look at those mountains and say that there is no God? We had lots of devotions and quiet times while we were in the mountains, and just took the time to relax and talk to God. I found myself thanking him multiple times throughout the week, just for everything. At night when we stood on the deck and saw the stars, we could see all of the constellations, Mars, the Adromada galaxy, and even the Milky way. How often do you get to see that? Or when we were standing on the top of the Collegiate mountains, looking at the clouds below us and listening to the absolute silence. I see pictures like that on postcards and in magazines, but I just kind of take it for granted. I think it’s pretty, but I don’t take the time to think that it’s actually there. And the same God who made those mountains made me.

We had a great time in Colorado, and it looks like we are probably going to move there. But we’ll see. For now, we’re in 106 degree Texas, staying inside until it cools down. And for now, we’re happy. (come on, colorado, come on, colorado, come on, come on!)

We are going to visit Colorado on the 11th, because that is where we feel God is calling us to go after seminary. We’ve never been, and are VERY excited. It sounds like we might be planting a church in Boulder or some surrounding area. The only scary part is that we have to drive up and down the side of a mountain to get there and back. So, please pray that we will have a safe journey and that it will be very clear as to whether God wants us there or not.

I’ve got a friend. She lives in the mirror.
We know every smile, see every tear.
We share all our secrets in whispered tones:
(Did you hear Sally Smith likes Jerry Jones?)

We meet in my room every day after school,
Crying bout kids who were mean and were cruel.
Then to cheer me up, she’d tell a joke,
And I’d laugh a laugh only she could provoke.

Soon we’d be laughing for no reason at all;
Rolling and hooting and banging the wall.

Then the time comes for us to go to bed.
So I lay down and rest my head.
Who knows what kind of creatures leer
Beneath my bed in all the drear?
But I’ve got a friend (I’ve made it quite clear)
A wonderful friend who lives in the mirror.

This story begins as most stories do.
It’s got a ‘Once upon a time’ and a happy ending, too.
It begins in a land far, far, away.
It’s got princes, and dragons for the princes to slay.
It’s got a maiden in distress, a dwarf in a dress,
Gold in a chest, and a villain none the less!
There’s an enchanted kiss for an enchanted girl,
Who needs an enchanted prince to save the world.
It’s got a bad guy with powers, a dwarf with a glower,
An apple that’s sour, and a magical tower!

There’s a fire-breathing dragon, and a sea-monster, too!
And a boat that the sea-monster is waiting to chew.
There’s a man on the boat who plays the kazoo.
St. Nicholas Oswald of Cusco, Peru.

There’s even a guy who hangs from vines, swinging his sword.
But he does that for fun. Just cause he’s bored.

Now I shall tell you this magical tale
Of excitement, adventure, danger, and peril.
A story so moving, and touching, and sad,
It’ll bring tears to the eyes of your dad.
Okay, now. I’ll give it a shot.
Once upon a…Darn. I forgot.

You won’t believe this–I’m sending this from Cape Town! In Africa! Remember that time when I said we might be going to Israel? Well, there was a change of plans (it’s a long story), and we went to Africa instead! Dad’s professor payed for most of it and I saved about $300 and gave him that. Emma and Anja are at my grandmother’s house. They were very upset that they didn’t get to go.

Well, we’ve been here for about three days, and we’re going to Egypt in a week!! I can’t wait! Well, a lot has been going on around here. Dad actually got bit by some sort of viper! The doctor’s say he’ll be okay. I hope so. He’s in a hospital right now called Cape Raale. I’m not exactly sure what ‘Raale’ means. Things here are very different from America. It’s really sad. Being here just proves how lucky we are and how much we take for granted. We’re staying in Mr. Jayler’s home. He has a little two-year-old girl named–I’m not sure how to spell it… Radel? Well, anyway, she’s adorable! People here don’t know much english and I keep forgetting that. I’ll say something and their response will be a quizzical look. Thankfully, though, we have a translator, Carl, and Mr. Jayler knows a little. Well, I gotta go now. The computer is running very slow, and every word takes a long time to register. And, plus, well, I’m afraid that if I say to much, then you might discover that this is an April Fool’s trick.

….

oops.

Me and my ostrich, my ostrich and I.
I just can’t WAIT till he learns how to fly.

We’ll soar through America, North, South, and West.
(“If there is a such thing”, says my Ma, who knows best.)
Then we’ll fly o’er to Egypt, where a great king lie.
King Tutankhamun, to the place where he died.

Then to China we’ll go, to see the Great Wall!
So big and so strong, so great and so tall.
Then we’ll fly to India, to feed all the poor,
And then back to America we shall soar.

We’ll land with a oomph! and a thunk! then a thud!
Then, full of longing, I plop down in the mud.
I put my head in my hands and with a great sigh,
“I just can’t WAIT till he learns how to fly.”

I finally got a laptop! I’ve been wanting one for FOREVER!!! YAY!!! HURAY!!! I think I might just hyperventilate… YAY!!! I spelled hyperventilate right the first time… now I really will…. good…night…

Well, sorry about that. That was… well, embarassing. Um… right. This is how I got it:

I’ve been wanting one for a very, very, long time, and then someone posted a message on Swiss saying that they are selling a Dell for $75! I had more than that, because I had been saving for a loong time. So, I bought it. And THEN, Dad’s boss said that he got a lot of free laptops, and if he got one better than that, he’d give it to me! And he did! Now I have a really nice Intel, and we gave the other one to some friends that didn’t have a computer. So, it all turned out GREAT!! And I’ve got a wonderful story idea that I would like to start now. Well, good-bye all ye peeps!