More than a Victory

Summary

Polyphemus captured Annabeth, that’s why she scram but Grover, Percy, and Clarisse managed to save Annabeth and Tyson, who had escaped from the explosion of Clarisse's ship in a hippocampus, took the Fleece to save Thalia's tree before it died. Polyphemus threw a tree to the ship they were going to escape on and it sank but luckily, a group of hippocampus helped the half-bloods to get to Miami Beach. There, they decided that Clarisse had to fly to Camp Half-Blood Hill with the Fleece and when she was heading to the airport, Luke and two bear-man appeared and took Annabeth, Grover, Percy and Tyson aboard the Princess Andromeda. There was a huge fight in the ship between Percy and Luke but Chiron and many other centaurs helped Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson escape from the Princess Andromeda and then took them to Camp Half-Blood Hill. They arrived at camp short after Clarisse, they placed the Fleece in Thalia's tree and it began to heal! One afternoon, Tyson told Percy that Poseidon had invited him to an underwater internship and he agreed to go so in that same afternoon, he left. A couple of days later, Grover woke Percy up because something had happened with Annabeth while she was guarding Thalia’s tree. When they arrived to the tree, nothing was wrong with Annabeth but Thalia had revived.


Quote 1

"But I believe if you give it some thought, you will see that Poseidon has been paying attention to you. He has answered your prayers. I can only hope that some day, Luke may realize the same about me." (p. 258)

In this quote, Hermes feels that his son, Luke, doesn't realize what he does for him but as a god, he can't show direct affect to his children. And it's true, sometimes children don't realize and appreciate what their parents do for them. If we think of it, we can see all the things are parents do for us. 


Quote 2

"Hermes struggled. “Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related, for the better or worse... and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum." (p. 258)

In my opinion, what Hermes is trying to tell Percy is that we have to accept others differences, that families always have to stick together and that we have to give people another chance. Luke has changed for bad, but I think that Hermes thinks he can also change for good again, he only needs some help to remember who he really is.  


Conclusion

This book has been very entertaining and I would recommend it for people that likes adventures. Rick Riordan, the author, has a really good form of writing because he makes you want to keep reading and he includes suspense in his books. I look forward to read the next book from the series, "The Titan's Curse." I hope you have enjoyed my blogs and the book as much as I have.   


I think that the song "Don't Forget Were You Belong" by One Direction connects to the last quotes becuase it talks about not forgeting who you are and that you are not alone.

Traps In Each Island

Summary

Percy woke up in a rowboat with Annabeth, but there was no sign of Tyson or other members of the ship. They reached an island were the "C.C's Spa & Resort" was located and there, a woman named C.C wanted Annabeth and Percy to have a makeover to find their true self's. Annabeth and Percy agreed but instead of making Percy look better, C.C turned him in to a guinea pig but luckily, Annabeth realized what had happened and gave Percy Hermes' multivitamins. Percy came back to normal and the other guinea pigs that were cursed by C.C, transformed into pirates that wanted revenge because of what C.C had done to them, so they went after her. While C.C was distracted, Annabeth and Percy took the pirates ship and sailed until they reached the island of the Sirens. Annabeth was hypnotized by the Sirens because they were singing her future. They made her jump into the sea and to begin to swim. Percy, who had his ears covered with wax so he didn't hear the Sirens, saved Annabeth and then headed to the island of the Fleece and the Cyclops. When they were finally there, they climbed a mountain until they found the Cyclops cave, and there they saw Clarisse who had told the Cyclops the secret about Grover, that he was a satyr. The Cyclops, Polyphemus decided to marry Clarisse and eat Grover, but Grover told him to eat him with mangos. Polyphemus went to find mangos and when he came back, Annabeth put on her invisibility cap and distracted him while Percy went into the cave to save Grover and Clarisse. When Percy had freed them, they heard Annabeth scream in terror.


Quote 1

"Bah! Men get all the glory." C.C closed her fist and extinguished the magic flame. "The only way to power for women is sorcery. Medea, Calypso, now there were powerful women! And me, of course. The greatest of all." (p. 179)

C.C, like Clarisse, wants to prove that women can do what men can do, and that men are not always the heroes. And it's true, for example, not only men can be president, Argentina and Brazil are ruled by women.


Quote 2

"She looked down. “Don’t you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework." (p. 199-200)

I think that Annabeth wants to change the world and make it better because of what she said in this quote. I also think that this is one of the reasons why Annabeth wants to be an architect, she wants the world to be a blank page, were she could change it. I would also like a world without wars or homeless people like Annabeth said in the book.

Conclusion

My prediction for the final chapters is that Annabeth is going to be captured by Polyphemus but she is going to be saved by Percy, Grover and Clarisse. I think that they are going to get the Fleece but that Luke is going to arrive to the island and they are going to fight for the Fleece. I also think that if this happens, Percy, Grover, Annabeth and Clarisse are going to win the Fleece and save Thalia's tree. I'm nearing the end of the book but I hope that the group can save Thalia's tree and Camp Half-Blood. 



 

Unexpected Meetings

Summary

Percy decided to board the ship with Annabeth and Tyson, but when they entered the ship, it looked deserted and Percy and Tyson had the feeling that there were monsters aboard. They slept in a stateroom and the next morning, they met Luke, the son of Hermes that had betrayed Camp Half-Blood Hill and tried to kill Percy. Luke told Annabeth, Percy and Tyson about his plan of reviving Kronos, the Lord of the Titans, and to destroy Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. He wanted them to join him but they refused and escaped from the ship in a lifeboat just in time before they were fed to dragon ladies. Percy used the thermos from Hermes so they could travel faster and they reached Virginia Beach very quickly. Annabeth knew a place where they could stay, a half-blood hideout Annabeth had built with Thalia and Luke. Percy sent Tyson to find monster donuts because he wanted to talk with Annabeth privately, but when Tyson came back, he brought a real monster! Annabeth, Tyson and Percy tried to defeat the monster, but Clarisse arrived in a ship her father Ares had given to her and she managed to defeat the monster. Percy, Annabeth and Tyson joined Clarisse in her ship that was heading to the Sea of Monsters. When they reached the entrance to the Sea of Monsters, they had to get through Scylla and Charybdis who were two monster that protected the Sea of Monsters. While they tried to get through them, the ship was getting destroyed so they had to use the lifeboats but Percy was pulled up by Scylla and when he was released again and was falling down to the sea, the ship exploded.

Quote 1

“But whenever Annabeth talked about the time she’d spent with them, I kind of felt . . . I don’t know. Uncomfortable?

 No. that’s not the word.

The word was jealous.” (p. 139)

I think that Percy was feeling jealous of the time that Annabeth had spent with Luke and Thalia because Percy and Annabeth had been through a lot together and they were a good team. Also because Annabeth is a very important friend for Percy and he trusts her very much and I think that Percy wants her to feel the same way.

Quote 2

“No, father,” Ares mimicked. “You’re pathetic. I should’ve let one of my sons take this quest.”

“I’ll succeed!” Clarisse promised, her voice trembling. “I’ll make you proud.” (p. 154-155)

In my opinion, Ares was being very harsh on Clarisse and he didn´t think that a girl could succeed. I think that Clarisse wants to prove him wrong and show her father that girls can do whatever boys can do. I also think that Ares was being very rude and that he shouldn’t treat her daughter that way.

Conclusion

My prediction for the next chapters is that Percy, Annabeth, Tyson and Clarisse are going to get past Scylla and Charybdis and they are going to go find the island were the Fleece is. I also predict that Luke is also going to search after the island of the Fleece because he knew the coordinates to the island. And finally, I think that Percy, Annabeth, Tyson and Clarisse are going to receive help from other people to find the island and Grover. I’m excited to keep reading and to find out what is going to happen next. I hope you are enjoying my blog posts so far.

A Punishment Instead of a Reward

Summary

After defeating the bronze bulls, Percy, Annabeth and Tyron met Tantalus, who was in special assignment on camp and had decided that chariot racing was going to be allowed after it´s cancellation and that all campers that wanted to participate would be excused from their other activities. Mr. D, the director of the camp, and Tantalus had to decide were Tyson was going to stay, but a triton appeared over Tysons head showing that Poseidon had claimed him as his son. Tyson stayed in cabin 3, Poseidon’s cabin with his half-brother Percy. The night before the chariot race, Percy had a dream that was actually an empathy link with Grover, meaning that Percy could talk with Grover and see what was happening around him in that moment as long as both of them were feeling the same. Grover told Percy that he was in the cave of a Cyclops in the Sea of Monsters and that the Cyclops had "it". The dream ended and it was the day of the chariot race but when the race began, a million of Stymphalian birds, that looked like pigeons, began to attack the campers, and to scare the birds away, Percy and Annabeth played some horrible music. Tantalus didn´t congratulate them for saving the camp, but punished them for disrupting the race and then congratulated Clarisse for winning the race. While Percy, Annabeth and Tyson were washing the dishes (which was their punishment), Percy told Annabeth about his dream and asked her what Grover said the Cyclops had. Annabeth told him that it must have been the Fleece that could cure Thalia's tree. They asked Tantalus to send them on a quest to find Grover and the Fleece but Tantalus decided to send Clarisse on the quest because she had won the chariot race and defeated the bronze bulls. Later that night, Percy went to the beach where he met Hermes that gave him a thermos that worked like a compass and could help the ship go faster if he opened it, a bottle with special vitamins, provided him with a ship so he could travel and then told him to decide if he was going to find Grover and the Fleece or not because if the harpies saw him out of his cabin, they were going to eat him.


Quote 1

"Wounded campers ran in every direction, with birds shredding their clothes and pulling out their hair, while Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, every once in a while yelling, "Everything's under control! Not to worry!" (p. 83)


I think that Tantalus poisoned Thalia's tree and allowed the bulls to go into the camp because he wasn't doing anything to stop the birds or to protect the campers. When he announced that the chariot racing was allowed and said that the campers that participated would be excused from their regular activities, Clarisse asked him about the border patrol that protected the camp, that was one of the regular activities, but Tantalus tried to avoid the commentary and said that it was a summer camp and they had to have fun. This is another a reason why I think Tantalus did this, it looks like he wants to destroy the camp.


Quote 2

“Annabeth doesn't like Cyclopes. You... don't want me along?"
"Oh, that's not it," I said halfheartedly. "Annabeth likes you. Really."
He had tears in the corner of his eye." (p.95)



When I read this quote I realized that Tyson feels different and that nobody likes him because of that. I also realized that he thinks that if he goes with Percy and Annabeth to the quest, he will ruin it but it's the opposite because he saved Percy's life in the school gym and when they were fighting the bulls.


Conclusion

I think that Percy is going to go find Grover with Annabeth and Tyson although they were not assigned a quest. I also think that many monsters are going to attack Percy and his friends because of their escape. This book includes many characters from Greek myths which I think is interesting because you can see how they could have lived in the real world and how their stories are related to what is happening in the book. I like the way the author writes because it keeps you entertained and makes you want to keep reading.  I'm enjoying the book so far and I'm exited to know what is going to happen next.

Wait, a What?

Summary

Hi! During this week, I have been reading “The Sea of Monsters” from the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians written by Rick Riordan. The character that tells the story is Percy Jackson, who is a half-blood or a demigod, which means that one of his parents is mortal and another an Olympian god. Percy's father is Poseidon, the god of the sea. On the first chapter, Percy tells us about his nightmare: his best friend Grover, a satyr, was being chased by a monster while he was entering a bridal boutique saying things to himself like "I have to warn them." Then, Percy woke up and his mother told him that he had to hurry up for school and that there were problems at Camp Half-Blood Hill which is a place to train half-bloods were Percy had been last summer. There, he was taught how to fight monsters and then sent to a quest with Grover and his friend Annabeth to find Zeus' lightning bolt. When Percy arrived to school, he saw that there were new kids that were friends of the school bully. At P.E period, Percy was playing dodge ball with the new kids when they transformed into Laistrygoians, giant monsters capable of throwing fire balls. Percy's friend Tyson, who was a homeless kid that was bullied at school, helped him to escape from the balls, taking them and throwing them back to the Laistrygoians; Percy was amazed that Tyson didn´t die. When the monsters disappeared, Annabeth appeared and told Percy that they had to get to Camp Half-Blood as fast as they could. Annabeth called the Gray Sisters Taxi and they arrived as quickly as possible to the camp that was being attacked by two giant bulls when they arrived. Percy, Annabeth and Tyson helped the campers to kill the monsters and then saw that Thalia´s tree, that protected the camp from monsters, had been poisoned. Thalia was the daughter of Zeus who had sacrificed her life to protect Annabeth, Grover and a boy named Luke. She was turned in to a pine tree near camp by Zeus as she was dying. Percy was still impressed that Tyson had managed to fight the monsters and not die and Annabeth told him that it was because Tyson was really a Cyclops.

Quote 1

"I think Grover's in trouble," I said, and told her about my dream." (p.5)

Grover is a very important friend for Percy and I this quote demonstrate it. I think that Percy's dreams are signs that warn him or tell him about things that are going to happen in the future.


Quote 2

"Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed.”I'm sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you." (p.45)
 
Tyson was a homeless kid, and many children from school bullied him but Percy always stood up for him. This quote shows that Percy was very important for Tyson, just like Grover was important for Percy, and that he was thankful for his help. He risked his life trying to save Percy when he was fighting against the Laistrygoians and the bulls.


Conclusion

My prediction for the next chapters is that Percy, Annabeth and Tyson are going to go find Grover. I think that maybe Thalia is captured in some place and that’s why her tree was dying. I also think that Grover is captured in the underworld and that the monsters that were chasing Percy wanted to kill him because he is Grover’s friend and wants to find him. So far, the book is very interesting and it keeps me entertained and I look forward to keep reading it.  

The Best Act of All

When I began to read the last pages of the book, I realized my prediction was wrong. The army officer had served the countess´ husband before he was executed, because he was one of the men that wanted and tried to kill Hitler. She had a long private talk with him and when it ended, the officer and the soldiers left. After that, Mutti, Karli, Lizzie and Peter said goodbye to the countess and began their journey to find the Americans with the choir schoolchildren. As they traveled, the schoolchildren sang as well as Karli, Mutti, Peter and Lizzie. They had to share shelter many times with other people but it wasn´t so bad because they shared food with each other. After days of walking and singing, the Americans appeared! But they came so loudly and shaking the ground that Marlene got scared and ran away. Peter told one of the Americnas that they had to find Marlene. He said that they would find her for them but that they had to leave because it was to dangerous. Mutti, Karli and Lizzie begged them to let them look after Marlene, but they didn´t let them. Mutti, Karli and Lizzie were taken to a camp refugee for "displaced persons" but Peter tried all he could to stop the Americans from taking them to a bigger camp with more "displaced people". Rules were rules and Karli, Mutti and Lizzie had to be separated from Peter. Peter told Lizzie that he was going to write, that he would come back and find her and that he was going to keep looking after Marlene. In the camp, there were actors, singers and artists so they held plays and concerts were the choir schoolchildren sometimes got to sing. Mutti realized they needed a school so they decided to have one and Lizzie was in charge of the small children. Six months passed before the war ended and Lizzie, Karli and Mutti were allowed to leave because they were going to stay in Mutti´s cousin Renate´s house. When they were in the camp, Peter and Lizzie wrote to each other and Peter told Lizzie that when he was released, they were going to get married and live in Canada, but the writing stopped when Lizzie and her family moved, even though she gave Peter her new address. They found an apartament near Renate´s house were they could live and they got the good news that Papi was alive! He had been prisioner of the Russian army. Karli and Lizzie began school again and one day, when they were coming back from school, they saw Peter sitting on the front doorstep! Lizzie and Peter got married and sailed away to live in Canada and when Karli was older, he also moved to Canada. Papi came home years after Lizzie had moved to Canada. One evening, when Lizzie and Peter were about forty years old, they went to a circus from France. When the act of the elephant started, Lizzie recognized Marlene immediantly and it seemed like Marlene recongnized Lizzie too. After the show, Lizzie asked the owners of the circus were they had found Marlene and they said they had her from another circus. Lizzie was with Marlene for hours in the weekend the circus was there but when it was time for the circus to go, she knew it was alright becuase she was glad that she had survived and that she was fine.


"But I´m sure it was Marlene who was the saving of them because Marlene made them laugh. They loved to watch her splashing in the streams, loved to feed her by hand whenever they could and, like Karli, loved to have a good giggle whenever they Heard her . . . how can I say this politetly? . . . letting off - which was often, and it was sure smelly too!" ( p. 177)

Marlene had a very big heart, she seemed to understand people and people undestood her. I think she knew how to make someone happy when they were sad. With her company, the choir schoolchildren forgot they were tired and hungry, they had a good time with her as well as Peter, Lizzie, Mutti and Karli.


"The star of the show was an elephant, and I knew as soon as I set eyes on her that it was Marlene. And the extraordinary thing was that she knew me. As she was led around the ring in the grand parade, she stopped right by me where I was sitting in the front row, and reached out her towards me." ( p. 193)

It was amazing how, about 35 years later, Marlene and Lizzie met again and that they could recongnize each other. Mutti, Karli and Lizzie had a big impact on Marlene´s life, they took care of her before and during the war, gave her food, found her a shelter, and most important, they accepted her in their family. I think that's why Marlene could recognize Lizzie in the circus.


I have enjoyed this book very much and I would recommend it because it´s entertaining and it teaches and reminds you very impotant things for life. For example to never give up and fight and keep going to get to your goal. Sometimes everything seems lost but like Mutti said in the book, "put one foot in front of the other", and maybe, you´ll find the answer. I hope my blogs have been interesting an fun to read. It has been a great experience to share them with you.  

 

During my summer vacations, I went to a circus in Denmark called Cirkus Arena were there was elephants. When I reached the part of the book were Lizzie and Peter went to the circus, I thought it was a very fun coincidendce and connection to the book.

Fell in the Wrong Hands

Continuing to read the story, Lizzie, Mutti, Karli, Peter and Marlene traveled following Peter´s compass that only pointed in the right direction. On their journey, they met people from other refugees that they shared shelter with and shared their stories with. Karli got sick, very sick, so they had to find a doctor. They reached a big house in the middle of the night, were an angry man opened the door; he didn´t look so pleased when he saw Mutti, Karli, Lizzie and Peter, but a woman appeared from inside the house and told Hans, which was the man’s name, to let them in. She also told Mutti she was going to find a doctor. Then, Lizzie followed Hans into a stable were Marlene could stay, and when she went into the house, she saw it was full of people, that had escaped from the bombing. She immediately understood why Hans did not want more people in the house. When the doctor arrived, he said that Karli had to be kept warm because of his fever and that he had to take some medicine he came with. After the doctor left, the woman that was with Hans introduced herself and said they could call her countess. Peter gave Karli his compass so he had something to look at while he was recovering. Karli made sure that Peter knew it was his compass and that Karli was going to give it back. When Karli began to feel better, he escaped from the room they were staying in and the others had to find him. When Lizzie found him, he was doing his juggling tricks on top of Marlene while a group of choir children and many other people from the refugees were watching. Karli stopped to juggle for a moment with his two balls and showed everyone his big brother's compass and said it was magical. Then someone told Karli to juggle with it and many other people began to encourage Karli to do it, so he did it. At first, he seemed to be very good at doing it but with all the crazy audience around Marlene, she became uncomfortable and made Karli loose his balance until he dropped the compass. Lizzie tried to catch it but she couldn't but luckily, Hans cached it. He began to examine the compass and when he opened it, he realized it was an British or American compass, not German. He asked Karli were he got the compass from but Mutti answered for him and said it was a gift from Papi to her that he had got from a British pilot that got killed when he was fighting the war in France. Hans was not very sure about the answer but he said that it wasn't a toy and that children should not have it. Mutti said that she agreed and then they left. When they were back in their room, the countess came in and told them that Hans didn't believe their story, neither did she, and that he wanted to call the police. She also said that Peter had an American accent and she knew it because her nephews were half German half American. She also didn't believe that he had asthma because he looked strong and healthy. She knew Peter wasn't German. At last she said they had to leave as soon as possible and she asked Mutti if the children of the choir could leave with them. Mutti agreed and the countess gave them and the children enough food for the journey. As they were about to leave, Hans came in from the front door bringing an army officer and some soldiers with him.


"But there were times when he came back with very little: a few nuts and some half-rotten vegetables. Several times he returned empty-handed altogether. Then we just went hungry, and those days were the days, with no food inside us, when it was hardest to keep ourselves warm, even if we could manage to make a fire." (p. 148)

Before Peter, Mutti, Karli and Lizzie found the big house, and they didn´t have any food left, they had to look for food in the forest or in little houses in villages. Sometimes Peter found many things to eat, but sometimes he didn't, that´s why we have to be thankful for having a home and enough food to survive because there are people in real life that don´t have anything to eat. Luckily, Marlene could eat whatever plant or grass that she found on her way.


"Everywhere I looked, every centimeter of the floor space was occupied. People were lying fast asleep, in the corridors, on the landings, and, I presumed, in every room." (p. 157)

I can imagine how hard it must have been for the countess and Hans to make sure all this people had somewhere to sleep and food to eat.  But on the other hand, it was very kind of Hans and the countess to open her house and help those persons who had lost everything and were fighting to survive.

The book is coming to an end and I think that Peter is going to get caught and Mutti, Karli and Lizzie are going to be in problems too. But maybe Lizzie, Mutti and Karli are not going to go to jail because of Marlene, because they have to take care or her. I also think that Peter is going to give Lizzie or Karli his compass before he is taken away by the soldiers so they can find their way to a safe place.   

 
Here is a picture of how a compass from the Second World War looked like.