Rick Riordan - Demigods and Monsters. Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordans Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series

Your Favorite Authors on
Rick Riordans Percy Jackson
and the Olympians Series

Edited and Original Introduction by Rick Riordan
with Leah Wilson

An Imprint of BenBella Books, Inc.

Dallas, TX

THIS PUBLICATION HAS NOT BEEN PREPARED, APPROVED, OR LICENSED BY ANY ENTITY THAT CREATED OR PRODUCED THE WELL-KNOWN BOOK OR FILM SERIES PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS.

Monster Recognition for Beginners Copyright 2008 by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Why Do So Many Monsters Go Into Retail? Copyright 2008 by Cameron Dokey

Stealing Fire From the Gods Copyright 2008 by Paul Collins

Would You Want to Be One of Artemis Hunters? Copyright 2008 by Carolyn MacCullough

Dionysus: Who Let Him Run a Summer Camp? Copyright 2008 by Ellen Steiber

The Gods Among Us Copyright 2008 by Elizabeth M. Rees

Percy Jackson and the Lords of Death Copyright 2013 by J&P Voelkel

Eeny Meeny Miney Mo(m) Copyright 2008 by Jenny Han

Percy, I Am Your Father Copyright 2008 by Sarah Beth Durst

As Bad as They Wanna Be Copyright 2013 by Hilary Wagner

The Greek HeroNew and Improved! Copyright 2013 by Hilari Bell

Not Even the Gods Are Perfect Copyright 2008 by Elizabeth E. Wein

Frozen Eyeballs Copyright 2008 by Kathi Appelt

The Language of the Heart Copyright 2008 by Sophie Masson

A Glossary of Ancient Greek Myth Copyright 2008 by Nigel Rodgers

Introduction and Essay Introductions Copyright 2008, 2013 by Rick Riordan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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Second e-book edition: November 2013

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available for this title.

ISBN 978-1937856-37-3

Proofreading by Erica Lovett, Yara Abuata, Rachelle Sparks, and Amy Zarkos

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Cover design by Laura Watkins and Sarah Dombrowsky

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Rick Riordan

Rosemary Clement-Moore

Cameron Dokey

Paul Collins

Carolyn MacCullough

Ellen Steiber

Elizabeth M. Rees

J&P Voelkel

Jenny Han

Sarah Beth Durst

Hilary Wagner

Hilari Bell

Elizabeth E. Wein

Kathi Appelt

Sophie Masson

Nigel Rodgers

Rick Riordan

PERSONS attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shotBY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR.

MARK TWAIN, front matter to Huckleberry Finn

Many years ago, before Percy Jackson appeared in my life, I was known primarily as a writer of grown-up mystery novels. One night I was doing an event with two other authors, and one of them was explaining why he liked my book The Devil Went Down to Austin.

The structure is amazing, he told the audience. Its a book about scuba diving, and as the characters go deeper into the dark murky water, the plot also gets darker and murkier. The symbolism is really clever.

The audience looked suitably impressed. I looked confused.

I use symbolism? Who wouldve guessed?

After the event, when I confessed to the other author that I hadnt done the murky structure thing intentionally, that perhaps it was just the result of my faulty outlining, his jaw dropped. Hed studied my writing. Hed made brilliant insights. And Id just been telling a story? Impossible!

That doesnt mean his insights werent valuable, or that the symbolism wasnt there. But this does raise an important point about the difference between writing a story and analyzing it.

Any book, for children or adults, can be read on many levels. We can simply enjoy it. Or we can look for hidden meanings and nuances. We can even write essays about the book, exploring it from different angles.

The writers job is to write the book. The careful readers job is to find meaning in the book. Both jobs are important. The meanings you find can enlighten, fascinate, and surprise. They can even surprise the author. The author, at least this author, uses symbols and themes subconsciously. I dont think about it, any more than a native speaker of English consciously thinks about subject-verb agreement as he speaks.

The front matter to Huckleberry Finn has always been one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes. Twain was adamant that readers simply read his book, not scrutinize it for morals or messages, much less a plot structure. Of course, this has not stopped generations of English majors from writing their graduate theses on the novel.

When I was first approached about editing this anthology, I wasnt sure what to think. Why would so many talented writers want to write about my childrens books? And yet, when I read their essays, I was amazed. Each had a different angle on Percy Jacksonall of them fascinating and thought-provoking. Many of them made me think, Is that what I was doing in the series? It was like having someone take an x-ray of my head. Suddenly, I saw all this stuff going on inside that I was never aware of.

Maybe thats why Mark Twain tried to warn off critics who wanted to interpret his work. Its not that the interpretations are wrong. Its that they tend to be a little too close to home!

I never intended to write the Percy Jackson series.

When my oldest son was in second grade, he began having problems in school. He couldnt focus. He didnt want to sit down and read. Writing was a painful challenge.

Being a novelist and a middle school teacher, I had a hard time accepting that my son hated school. Then came the fateful parent conference when the teachers suggested my son get a full psychoeducational evaluation. A few weeks later we got the results: ADHD and dyslexia.

These were not new concepts to me. I had taught many students with learning differences. I had made modifications. Id filled out evaluation forms.

But when the child in question is your own son, its different.

How could I help him make sense of what was going on with him? How could I frame the problem in a positive way?

In the end, I fell back on what I knew beststorytelling.