The Siren Song

My friend and I love this book so much! So if your someone looking for a nice gift, buy this! I recomend this from the mind of an eleven year old! I love all of the Cronus Chrinicles, so you should try them all, the last book will come out in fall of 2008, and I cant wait!!! The people are the best ever, my friend and I truley love Philonecron, the villian who causes a great conflict. This is a very suspensful book, and you'll have to read # 1 first: The Shadow Theives! Our favorite quote is "Philonecron did not like being wet." It's at the very end and is truely true! We also like to pronounce his name Fil-ne-cron leavimng out the "o." It sounds better, try it! This is a wonderful book for everyone! Trust the bookwormish mind of me, an eleven year old! Yay for Philnecron, and bookworms, and Anne Ursu!

A lot of writers TRY to be funny, but Anne Ursu actually pulls it off. You know you're in for a good time when the four parts of a fantasy book are titled "Fish," "Fishy," "Fishier," and "Fishiest." Ursu has a field day with the fact that a girl who disappeared one night (in the last book) to save the world did not get praised when she came home; instead she was grounded for life and sent to a therapist: "After they call the police to tell them you have returned home safely, and then they hug you a lot and cry for a while, well--after that, they want to know where you've been. (And, for that matter, why you are covered in weird-looking slime, purple cobwebs, and Harpy poo, and why your cat's leg is broken.) And when you don't tell them, they tend to get pretty upset. And after a few days, when you still haven't told them, they stick you in therapy. They're going to give you speeches about how DISAPPOINTED they are in you and how family is all about TRUST and how you worried them to DEATH and you don't have the decency to explain where you WERE and they have to assume the worst--which is that you can't be trusted. And then they ground you. A lot. Charlotte Mielswetzski had once thought that she could talk her way out of any situation. This was before she came back from the Underworld." That's just a small sampling of the tongue-in-cheek style, which supports the microscope Ursu turns on human nature even as she moves her adventure story along. Ursu is especially good at showing the basic disconnect between kids and grown-ups: adults say they want to hear what kids are thinking, but when the kids venture to share their true thoughts, they are met with disapproval or even punishment. Surprisingly, another set of feelings the author spotlights are those of her villain Philonecron. Ursu gives us his point of view about being defeated and wanting revenge. Even as readers are laughing at what an astonishing megalomaniac the man (or rather demigod) is, they will be able to relate just a little to his feelings. After all, it's hard to be a perfectionist. For example, Philonecron is bothered by the (siren) lounge singer on Poseidon's yacht's "tendency to be one sixty-fourth of a note sharp on anything in her upper register or the fact that the ship had lounge singers at all." Further irony anchoring this plot: having stopped the bad guy in Book One, Charlotte and Zee are now on the recieving end of payback from Philonecron's powerful relatives, namely, his grandfather Poseidon. We find out that Poseidon lives on the world's most massive, beautiful and tacky yacht, tacky because the gawdy decor has a distinctive "Poseidon's face" theme and the god tends to wear white pants with gold chains and not much more, showing off his blue chest hairs. Did I mention Anne Ursu is funny? Anyway, the story gets going when Poseidon's people start messing around with Zee and Charlotte at their school, but they don't catch on until it's too late. By that time, Charlot

Well, we're all going to read the final Harry Potter book aren't we? But I just discovered another constellation in the firmament just as brilliant: Anne Ursu's second installment in her Chronos Chronicles trilogy, The Siren Song. My children, 17 and 13, and I were delighted by this book. The Greek gods with their laughably vain and all too human foibles again threaten to wreak havoc on the lives of the two teen protagonists. Fortunately, Zee and Charlotte again outwit the immortals but not before we're treated to captivating encounters with Poseidon and his aquatic circle of sycophants, clueless (but very recongnizable) parents, and the deliciously evil Philonecron. What separates this effort from the sea of other teen books is its inventiveness, wit, and comfortable intelligence. It's suffused with such easy charm that you're captured and carried along until the sea voyage ends all too soon. No better time can be spent than in the company of this author. Bon Voyage.

Everyone that I know who read Shadow Thieves absolutely loved it. Well, they'll love the second book in the series, too. I don't want to spoil any surprises, but rest assured that Charlotte and Zee are not satisfied with the way things ended at the end of book one...neither are their enemies. I sure love these characters, I love Anne Ursu's humor, and I absolutely can't wait to see what happens next. I highly recommend this book for male and female readers 8-14.

Charlotte and Zee are back! This is a very fun read, especially for summer. Poor Charlotte is stuck on a boring vacation, and Zee has gone girl-crazy. Ms. Ursu's writing is sharp and funny. I laughed out loud a LOT. I really loved a new character she introduced and hope he'll be back in the third installment. This is a great book to learn about Greek myths, if you're like me and don't know much about them, and also fun to read if you're like my dad and know a lot about the mythological figures already. He really liked the first book and is looking forward to reading this one.