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A fan image of characters Percy and Annabeth. This demonstrates the encouragement that these books can bring for readers to express themselves artistically through characters that they admire and identify with. Many such types of art exist online showing the inspiration that Riordan and his characters can bring to people everywhere.

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One of Riordan’s many companion books to his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Here we can find short stories following some of our favorite characters as well as learn new fun facts and behind the scenes things about Camp Half-Blood and being a demigod.

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One of the many real-life Camp Half-Bloods inspired by Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. Here children can get together with others their own age and live as half-bloods learning Ancient Greek and learning how to fight off monsters, along with Greek myths and legends. An example of Riordan’s work affecting real children and getting them active as well as well-read.

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This is an image of Rick Riordan and his son, Haley. Rick Riordan was largely inspired by his son to begin writing, as his son has ADHD and dyslexia, defining characteristics of demigods in Riordan’s world. He wanted to have heroes with these disabilities so that his son and other children like him had characters to look up to.

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The man himself, Rick Riordan. Riordan was born in San Antonio, Texas on June 5, 1964. He has been actively writing books since 1997. His works have sold more than 30 million copies in the United States alone. His most major works are adaptations of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse mythology.

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Riordan received the Children’s Choice Book Awards in 2011 for author of the year. He had a record-breaking 500,000 vote for him for this award.

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Riordan received the Stonewall Book Award for Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor in 2017. This reward is given to authors for merit for young adults in LGBT characters and issues.

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ATLANTA- "Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor" by Rick Riordan, published by Disney Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group and "If I Was Your Girl" by Meredith Russo and published by Flatiron Books, are the 2017 recipients of the Stonewall Book Awards - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award, respectively. The award was announced today by the American Library Association's (ALA) Stonewall Book Awards Committee of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits held Jan. 20 - 24, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Stonewall Book Awards are given annually to English-language works of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience. The award will be presented to the winning authors or editors at the American Library Association Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago in June.

"The Youth Subcommittee selected the two titles that not only showcased exceptional merit relating to the queer youth experience, but also represented the stories we need in our libraries and in the hands of our children and teens." said Stonewall Book Awards Youth Subcommittee Chair Casey McCoy.

In Magnus's second adventure, Rick Riordan introduces readers to Alex Fierro, a gender fluid teen who has "startling eyes, an impressive sweater-vest, and a tendency to hit people" (54). Alex is a hero and represents the expansive possibilities of gender for future generations.

In "If I Was Your Girl," Meredith Russo tells the story of Amanda Hardy, a transgender teen who moves to rural Tennessee for a fresh start. Groundbreaking for its skill and authentic representation, this book displays the complexity, power, and hope possible when authors' #ownvoices are reflected in their art.

Three Stonewall Book Awards - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Award Honor Books were named:

" When the Moon Was Ours" written by Anna-Marie McLemore and published by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Press.

" Unbecoming" written by Jenny Downham and published by Scholastic Inc. by arrangement with David Fickling Books.

" Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community" written by Robin Stevenson and published by Orca Book Publishers.

The members of the 2017 Stonewall Book Awards Children's and Young Adult Subcommittee are: Chair Nel Ward, retired, Newport, Ore.; Subcommittee Chair Casey McCoy, San Jose (Calif.) Public Library; Darryn Diuguid, Ph.D., McKendree University, Lebanon, Ill.; Christina H. Dorr, Ph.D., Hilliard (Ohio) City School District; Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School Library, New York; Angie M. Manfredi, Los Alamos (N.M.) County Library System; Marian Mays, Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, Seattle; Joel Shoemaker, Oakwood (Ill.) Public Library District; Talya Sokoll, Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, Mass.; Hillary St George, Los Angeles Public Library; and Gabriela Toth, H.W. Wilson/EBSCO Core Collections, Ipswich, Mass.

For information on the Stonewall Book Awards - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award and other ALA Youth Media Awards, please visit www.ala.org/yma.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association is the oldest professional association for GLBT people in the United States. It is committed to serving the information needs of the GLBT professional library community and information and access needs of individuals at large. It is home to GLBT Book Month (tm), a nationwide celebration every June and the Stonewall Book Award, the oldest award honoring GLBT books. GLBTRT is committed to encouraging and supporting the free and necessary access to all information, as reflected by the missions of the American Library Association and democratic institutions.

The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world with more than 57,000 members. Its mission is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.

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'Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor' and 'If I Was Your Girl' win 2017 Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award

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ATLANTA- "Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor" by Rick Riordan, published by Disney Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group and "If I Was Your Girl" by Meredith Russo and published by Flatiron Books, are the 2017 recipients of the Stonewall Book Awards - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award, respectively.

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Riordan received Mark Twain Readers Awards for The Lightning Thief in 2008 and The Sea of Monsters in 2009. These awards are voted on by 4th-6th grade students each year in the state of Missouri.

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I just returned from the Missouri Association of School Librarians conference. What a nice bunch of folks. This is not a surprise, as librarians are some of my favorite people, and when they get together they usually throw a party of dangerous proportions. Some of you who read The 39 Clues have commented on the shout-outs to librarians embedded in The Maze of Bones, and what I loved is that the other authors in the series picked up on this entirely of their own volition so it has become a theme throughout the series. After all, authors couldn't get very far without the help of librarians.

At any rate, the conference was a lot of fun. I did a workshop presentation in the afternoon and two book signings. So many librarians told me stories of kids who had turned into readers because of Percy Jackson. They would usually preface their comments with, "You must get tired of hearing this, but -". Ah, how could I ever get tired of hearing that my books helped a child become a reader?

In the evening, I attended the banquet to receive the 2008 Mark Twain Award for The Lightning Thief. The award is voted on by 4th-6th grade readers throughout the state, and as I always say, these are the awards that mean the most to me, because they are decided by the people who matter the most - the young readers themselves. The big surprise, though, was the announcement of the 2009 award winners. I was stunned to learn that The Sea of Monsters won the Mark Twain Award for 2009! The award has been given for 37 years, but the organizers told me that this is the first time any author has won two years in a row. Wow, what an honor. Thanks to the young readers of Missouri - I'm so glad you've enjoyed the Percy Jackson series!

Special appreciation to Marlys and Becky, who were my hosts during the conference and chaired the 2008 and 2009 committees, and to the two student presenters, Morgan (7th grade) and Kara (6th grade) who drove to the conference with their families, introduced me, and had better prepared comments than I did! The girls were very composed and professional speaking in front of 1000+ librarians. I couldn't have done that in middle school!

If you'd like to see a video from the conference, here is a link to Mrs. Matzat's site.
Hope you don't mind, Mrs. Matzat! You can thank my mom, who is often on 'web patrol' and sends me various mentions that she finds.

So I came home yesterday and greatly confused the TSA screener at the Springfield airport. I had my two awards in my carry-on bag, and the guy could not figure out what they were. "Are those beer tap handles?" he asked. "No," I said casually, "they're busts of Mark Twain." He looked at me pretty strange, but he let me go.

Well, really, if you're going to carry an author around in your bag, it might as well be Twain. He's always been one of my heroes, and he's the perfect icon for a readers' choice award. Twain was always a populist writer with little patience for literary pretension. Just this morning I found a previously unpublished essay by Twain on BN.com. Twain talks about how the general public views a book versus how literary critics view it. He says he can determine how well his book will be received by running it past an assortment of ordinary people with different temperaments.

"But the man whom I most depend upon - the man whom I watch with the deepest solicitude - the man who does most toward deciding me as to whether I shall publish the book or burn it, is the man who always goes to sleep. If he drops off within fifteen minutes, I burn the book; if he keeps awake three-quarters of an hour, I publish - and I publish with the greatest confidence, too. For the intent of my works is to entertain; and by making this man comfortable on a sofa and timing him, I can tell within a shade or two what degree of success I am going to achieve."

This really resonated for me, because when I wrote the Lightning Thief, I imagined reading it aloud to my own middle school English classes. I wanted it to be a book that would never put them to sleep or lose their attention. I still read the manuscripts to my sons for the same reason. If their attention wanders, I change the slow parts. "For the intent of my works is to entertain."

Thanks to the librarians of MASL and the young readers of Missouri for making me so welcome in your state. And a special apology to the librarians of Oklahoma, who had their conference on the same weekend, so I could not attend, but I was equally honored to learn that Lightning Thief won the Oklahoma Sequoyah Award.

Someone at MASL asked me how many state awards the Lightning Thief has now won, and I wasn't able to answer. Honestly, the last year has been a whirlwind, and I've been overwhelmed and so thankful for the votes of confidence Percy Jackson has received from young readers across the country. In case you're curious, I went back and checked. Hopefully I haven't forgotten any, but here's a list of state awards The Lightning Thief has won:

Beehive Award (Utah)
Mark Twain Award (Missouri)
Sunshine State Readers Award (Florida)
Virginia Readers Choice Award (Virginia)
Maine Student Book Award (Maine)
Nene Award (Hawaii)
Sequoyah Award (Oklahoma)
Nutmeg Award (Connecticut)
Golden Sower Award (Nebraska)
Grand Canyon Readers Award (Arizona)
Rebecca Caudill Award (Illinois)
Massachusetts Children's Book Award (Massachusetts)
Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award (Louisiana)
Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Award (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Alaska)
Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award (Pennsylvania)
South Carolina Junior Book Award (South Carolina)

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I just returned from the Missouri Association of School Librarians conference. What a nice bunch of folks. This is not a surprise, as librarians are some of my favorite people, and when they get together they usually throw a party of dangerous proportions.

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Riordan, R. (2015). Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer. New York, NY: Disney Hyperion Books.

The Sword of Summer is the first book in the series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, a new mythology series focusing on Nordic myths and legends. Here we follow Magnus Chase (cousin of Annabeth from Riordan’s Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series’), who has been living on the streets for two years since the death of his mother. Magnus learns from his uncle that he is the child of  a Norse god, and that this gives him magic powers and puts him in great danger, and that he must retrieve the mystic Sword of Summer in order to protect himself.

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Riordan, R. (2010). Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid. New York, NY: Disney Hyperion Books.

The Red Pyramid is the first book in the Kane Chronicles series following Egyptian mythology. The story follows siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, the main protagonists of the story. Sadie who has lived with her grandparents since the death of their mother, and Carter who has traveled the world with their Egyptologist father. That is, until their father is kidnapped, and the two learn ancient secrets about their family as they set off on a quest to save their father and to save the world from the Egyptian god Set, who seeks to destroy it.

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Riordan, R. (2010). The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero. New York, NY: Disney Hyperion Books.

The Lost Hero is the first book of the sequel series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus. Here we discover that our beloved hero Percy is currently missing, as we follow the stories of three newly claimed demigods, Jason, Piper, and Leo. Jason feels that something is very wrong, and has no idea who is two companions are despite them both being completely sure that they have all been friends for months. The trio go off on a quest together to try to discover the whereabouts of Percy and the identity of Jason.

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Riordan, R. (2005). Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. New York, NY: Disney Hyperion Books.

The Lightning Thief  is the first in a series of five books making up the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The book follows troubled youth Percy Jackson as he is kicked out of yet another school and returns home to his mother and horrible step-father. Soon after Percy discovers that he is a demigod, son of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. Unfortunately for Percy, Poseidon, along with Zeus and Hades, made a pact to have no more demigod children, which causes many problems for Percy in his quest to clear his name for a crime which he did not commit.

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I would say that different series’ of Riordan’s belong in different age groups based on complexity and content. The original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series I would put on a range of around 10-14, as the protagonist is 12 in the first book, giving a little room to children slightly below and above that age. The story and plot is very linear and easy to follow. I would give the same age range to the Kane Chronicles series.

Some of his later series’ I would put in a slightly higher age range. Particularly the Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo books. These seem aimed towards older kids, as well as featuring older protagonists and more romantic themes. I would put the age range for these around 12-16. There is more complexity in the narrative, including many perspective shifts, and slighter older themes. Overall I think that his books can be enjoyed and be an appropriate reading level for kids at the end of elementary school to mid-high school, say 5th-10th grade, and perhaps earlier or later based on the individual interests and reading skills of the child in question. Though I believe they can certainly be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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I’m going to say that there is a pretty fair split between reading Riordan’s books for pleasure vs reading them in a classroom setting. I personally had teachers in my school that taught with his books during Greek mythology units, though I never had these teachers myself. I don’t think it’s quite 50/50 but probably about 60/40, with 60 being the percentage read for pleasure and 40 being the percentage read academically.

His books are very fun, and intended to be so as they were written for his own son with ADHD and dyslexia (Riordan, 2005), but they are quite educational as well as they draw very heavily from different cultures mythologies’. Additionally, this seems to be one of the rare cases in which encouragement from students causes a teacher to use these works as material, once they see the academic value of them (Locke, 2010).

Overall I think the books are majority read for pleasure, especially considering that most of them are parts of a series, which would rarely be covered in its entirety in a classroom setting, more likely the class may read the first book academically, and some students may wish to continue the series on their own time.