I am a sucker for a good young adult book series. The sheer volume of engaging, worthwhile young adult fiction astounds me. I don’t remember having such a plethora of good reading when I was in middle school. There was The Black Stallion series (which I devoured), Little House on the Prarie (I was apathetic… too few horses), and Madeline L’Engle (Many Waters is still a favorite), but that was really about it.

Since teaching middle school literature for three years, I have become a engrossed in the flood of new work aimed at young people in the last twenty years. While there are certainly some duds (Margaret Haddix’s Shadow Children series comes to mind… blah), the work of folks such as Lois Lowry, Cornelia Funke, Nancy Farmer, and, yes, JK Rowling have provided young people with some pretty quality reading.

So, my new favorite is Rick Riordan. I absolutely loved his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series—the last book of which I finished last night around 12. The characters were gods, demigods, and demons, but were so fantastically human. I adored the juxtaposition of modern American life with Greek mythology. The books were just cleverly written in general. No, there was no great depth of thought required on the part of the reader, but they were a fun way to spend a few hours. I can't wait for the movie on February 12!

I look forward to Riordan’s new series The Kane Chronicles, which looks to be a similar concept revolving around Egyptian mythology. I hope it’s not overkill…