Saturday, January 16, 2010

Gateways (or Have Mercy Percy!)

Every year on this weekend we drive to Buffalo, a trip that takes us about 8 hours each way. It's a long way and a quick turn around, but we go to see a little boy with whom we don't get to spend much time otherwise, and the visit means a lot to people we care about.

In the car we pass the time by listening to audiobooks. Last year, it was Twilight, a perfectly awful recording of a not very good book, but I diligently read the other three books in the series afterward. This year, it's the Lightning Thief. Percy Jackson has been a favorite of my students for the last few years, but I personally haven't been able to make it past chapter 3. The kids I have in my class right now are downright fanatical about the series, though, and I figured I owed it to them to give it another try.

Honestly? The audio version is so-so, not too annoying except when the narrator does Annabeth's voice in that falsetto that so many male readers do. The book itself is mediocre. Kind of predictable and not especially well-written or well-paced. Still, once we're finished listening to it, I know it'll be much easier for me to read the rest of the series, and then if I still need to, I can ask the kids why they like it so much.

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