Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/15/2010 *Starred Review* Since their mother’s death, six years ago, 12-year-old Sadie Kane has lived in London with her maternal grandparents while her older brother, 14-year-old Carter, has traveled the world with their father, a renowned African American Egyptologist. In London on Christmas Eve for a rare evening together, Carter and Sadie accompany their dad to the British Museum, where he blows up the Rosetta Stone in summoning an Egyptian god. Unleashed, the vengeful god overpowers and entombs him, but Sadie and Carter escape. Initially determined to rescue their father, their mission expands to include understanding their hidden magical powers as the descendants of the pharaohs and taking on the ancient forces bent on destroying mankind. The first-person narrative shifts between Carter and Sadie, giving the novel an intriguing dual perspective made more complex by their biracial heritage and the tension between the siblings, who barely know each other at the story’s beginning. The first volume in the Kane Chronicles, this fantasy adventure delivers what fans loved about the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: young protagonists with previously unsuspected magical powers, a riveting story marked by headlong adventure, a complex background rooted in ancient mythology, and wry, witty twenty-first-century narration. The last pages contain a clever twist that will leave readers secretly longing to open their lockers at the start of school. - Copyright 2010 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 06/01/2010 Gr 4–9— Riordan takes the elements that made the "Percy Jackson" books (Hyperion) so popular and ratchets them up a notch. Carter, 14, and Sadie, 12, have grown up apart. He has traveled all over the world with his Egyptologist father, Dr. Julius Kane, while Sadie has lived in London with her grandparents. Their mother passed away under mysterious circumstances, so when their father arrives in London and wants to take them both on a private tour of the British Museum, all is not necessarily what it seems. The evening ends with the apparent destruction of the Rosetta Stone, the disappearance of Dr. Kane, and the kidnapping of Carter and Sadie. More insidiously, it leads to the release of five Egyptian gods, including Set, who is their mortal enemy. Carter and Sadie discover the secrets of their family heritage and their ability to work magic as they realize that their task will be to save humanity from Set, who is building a destructive red pyramid inside Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. The text is presented as the transcript of an audio recording done by both children. Riordan creates two distinct and realistic voices for the siblings. He has a winning formula, but this book goes beyond the formulaic to present a truly original take on Egyptian mythology. His trademark humor is here in abundance, and there are numerous passages that will cause readers to double over with laughter. The humor never takes away from the story or from the overall tone. A must-have book, and in multiple copies.—Tim Wadham, St. Louis County Library, MO - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2010 Carter and Sadie Kane, siblings who have been raised apart since the death of their mother in mysterious circumstances six years ago, only meet semiannually. Their latest reunion is particularly notable since their father, archaeologist Julius Kane, takes them on a prearranged private tour of the British Museum, where he magically blows up the Rosetta Stone, unleashes ancient Egyptian mayhem, and is encased in a sarcophagus by the god Set and sunk deep into another level of creation. Of course, you see where this is going-Carter and Sadie have to save their father and save the world. Julius’ brother Amos whisks them away to his half-visible mansion atop a Brooklyn warehouse, but it isn’t long before Amos disappears as well, the house is destroyed, and the siblings are off on a breakneck adventure in which they discover themselves to be: 1. part of a pharaonic bloodline; 2. hosts, respectively, to Horus and Isis; 3. dependent on the aid of a terse baboon, the cat goddess Bast, hot magician-in-training Zia, and equally hot guardian of the Underworld Anubis. Thwarted at every turn by Set and his minions, they have five days to destroy his base of power in a pyramid under construction in New Mexico. Riordan is fully aware of the silliness of this whole venture, and he interjects plenty of humor not only into the kibitzing tone of the siblings’ dual narration but also into the preposterous episodes themselves-taking out a bloodthirsty goddess with vats of spicy salsa and attacking evil magicians with a reanimated Elvis jumpsuit. A bittersweet ending lays a solid foundation for subsequent titles in the Kane Chronicles, and a cleverly integrated invitation to readers to join the adventure via a secret package in a locker should make 13-32-33 the most coveted locker number at school this fall. EB - Copyright 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.