Rick Riordan

by Barry Sparks

Profiles the popular fantasy author and creator of Percy Jackson, covering his youth, creative influences, and the cult following his works have inspired.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Library Binding

First published October 10, 2012

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. Would have liked it to be a little less "Rah rah Rick." It also bugged me that there were so many pix of characters from the movie, when Riordan is quoted saying that he didn't even see the movie because he has his own idea of what the characters look like, and doesn't want to mess that up.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started off promisingly but quickly became bogged down in too many details taken from newspaper accounts I suspect. There also was a breathless awe about each and every title even when the author tried to avoid admitting that some of Riordan's books didn't do as well as the others or the critics were not too impressed with a title. I shall be wary of future biographies from this publisher. It had a very rushed formulaic feel.

[Brandy]

Cursory biography of middle-grade phenom. Most of the information is cobbled together from various interviews (all source notes provided in the back). Lots of pictures fill out the just-over-a-hundred-pages, making this a good choice for the biography book reports.

Spends a little more time than kids will care about discussing his adult books, though.

[Tarun Ganesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about Rick Riordan, who is the author of many mythological books that have interested me for a very long time. In this book, we learn how Rick Riordan was during his childhood, and what led him to make a lot of mythology books. Rick Riordon also had a hard time in school and he suffered from dyslexia. The book also describes how JK. Rowling was an important figure in Rick's life and how she drove him to make some of the best mythology books in the world. According to Rick Riordan, " I always knew Rowling as a really good adversary in being an author." This book was really effective in providing useful information about Rick's life and his story inspires other people's lives too. I would totally recommend this book to a friend who is really interested in Rick Riordan and his life.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was okay, it was more or less the author the book was about and not the book itself.

[Nour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rick Riordan realised that he wanted to be a writer at the age of thirteen.He was born in June 5, 1964, in San Antonio, Texas. Rick was very interested in mythology, fantasy, and science fiction. Rick's first short story was about angels, and so his teacher Mrs. Pabst helped him to publish it since it was an amazing story well written and written with huge effort and imagination.Everyday Rick Riordan had visions of being a published writer, but finally after waiting for a long time the editor's letter arrived. Rick wasn't that happy, because it was a rejection letter, saying that the characters in angels aren't science fiction. But, the editor said that Rick is really good for a student who is just thirteen and that he should keep trying. His parents were very proud of him, his mother framed the rejection letter and hung it in the hallway so that Rick can see it everyday as a reminder of his effort and his dream. When Rick was young he enjoyed making clay sculptures, particularly dinosaurs that came out of kiln, an oven used to make ceramics. It looked like the dinosaur melted, he described it as a dinosaur having a heart attack. His father always said that maybe some sucker will buy it, and indeed a customer saw the dinosaur and started laughing and bought it. Rick told his father that he was right after all some sucker did buy it. When Rick reached High-School, he continued to write focusing more on the school's newspaper. Rick Riordan loved the 80's especially The Beatles, he also enjoyed journalism. After thirteen rejections, Big Red Tequila his first novel was published as a paperback by Bantam in July 1997. The series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus were a major success, they all talk about Greek mythology. Thus, Rick Riordan is a great author with great skills.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute graphic novel, excellent for kids who are starting to get into reading. Can't say I would ave followed it all if I hadn't already known something about Egyptian mythology, but the kid I read it with seemed to follow it just fine. Hope there are more!

[Austin J Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to hear his background. What I liked most was how he was able to write books for children with the same problems as his son and inspire them to become better readers.

[Danceaw18zendayafan]

This is my second Rick Riordan biography and it's a lot like my first bio except more detailed because it's bigger.

[Melenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book