My admiration for author Rick Riordan began when I was in middle school before I was 10, maybe 8. Now, I'm 20, re-reading his books for what must be the 2nd or 3rd time and drowning in the nostalgia; furthermore, only now do I realize the immense amount of research and creativity Rick Riordan puts in to his work, creating diverse characters that undergo tremendous otherworldly pressure while struggling through the ups and downs of young adulthood, much the same as all of us who were once high school students.
Rick Riordan is a New York Times Best-Selling Author who writes about mythology in the modern day. While he started out with the 5-book Percy Jackson series in 2005, which follows the son of Poseidon, Percy, as he comes to understand that everything in Greek mythology is in fact real. While he has branched off to include other mythologies, including Norse and Egyptian, he is most famous for his Greek-centric Percy Jackson series and Greek- Roman fusion series The Heroes of Olympus.
On his website, Riordan's biography says that he used to be a middle school teacher before becoming a full-time author. His son Haley would ask for bed-time stories at night and when he ran out of stories, he recalled a project he had his sixth grade students complete where they created their own Greek hero with their own quest. According to him, "[he] made up Percy Jackson and told Haley all about his quest to recover Zeus' lightning bolt in modern day America." Thus, based on his own previous experience with teaching children, the Percy Jackson series was born.
Riordan is creative in what I believe is little C; he took Greek mythology and molded stories and mythical beings into a modern day series that revolves around groups of demigod teenagers who risk their lives to save the world from evil beings and face their own destiny while dealing with the relationships of those around them, suffering from loss and the violence of war. Although these characters often possess supernatural powers, they encounter situations modern day teenagers have to face that could prove more dangerous than the powers of an ancient evil.
Official artwork from the Rick Riordan website
What is most important about Riordan's creativity is the length he goes to include diverse characters in his series. The targeted reading age is 12-13, just as many children are going through puberty and learning more about themselves. As a school teacher, he wanted to represent marginalized populations and considered it essential to create role models children could look up to in his books. Almost all sons/daughters of gods —demigods— have ADHD or dyslexia, but Riordan stresses that although these children process differently, the way they think is not wrong; it is simply an adaptation. Beyond this, his characters have unique identities: one character in the Norse mythology series is deaf, another is transgender, and from the Greek-Roman fusion series Frank Zhang is Chinese-Canadian, Piper McLean is Cherokee, Leo Valdez is Hispanic, Hazel Levesque is African American, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano is Puerto Rican, and one of the main characters who was in the Percy Jackson series, Nico di Angelo, is gay. This revelation was extremely important for the time (2014) as gay marriage had yet to be legalized in the U.S (2015) and this event cemented Rick Riordan as one of the most inclusive authors for his targeted demographic of children and teenagers.
There is no "right" or "wrong" to mythology, as most of it is a blank slate, or has been erased from society or transcribed into another culture (ex: the Romans adopting Greek mythology and making it their own.) Riordan even states "there are so many different versions of each myth" and for him to come up with such specific details on many obscure myths is why I think he is a little C creator. He builds on existing foundations and creates inspiring stories that spark creativity in all who read his novels.
Additional article:
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/gay-character-childrens-book-series
Sources:
Images from Google and Rick Riordan's website
http://rickriordan.com/about/frequently-asked-questions/
I completely agree with the description of Rick Riordan. Growing up, The Percy Jackson series was my absolute favorite and it is what started my love for reading, especially fiction. Even today, when I go back and re-read his books, Riordan somehow finds a way to transport people through his writing. From your details about his innovation in his writing and the unique characteristics of the characters, I definitely agree that Riordan is a little c creative. He was at forefront of advocating for change not only in his field but in the minds of his readers.
ReplyDeleteAhhh!! Yes we stan Rick Riordan. Although his authorship may not be considered very creative because it's based off mythology, as you said, he molded it into his own, inventing a new product. Like many individuals, the Percy Jackson series were the first books I was excited to read. It must be ten years since I started reading them and certain scenes still stick out to me. His books not only sparked a love for reading in (i would argue millions of) children, two of them were made into movies. There is no getting around the wild popularity his work received which is why he definitely deserves a little c creative distinction at the least.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your description of Rick Riordan. I still remember taking a history class during my freshman year of high school and we were talking about Ancient Egypt and the Egyptian gods. Reading Rick Riordan's books provided me with a small historical and mythological background for the class. The same happened when we read the Iliad our freshman year here. Rick Riordan not only helped teach about other cultures and beliefs, but he made them relatable to the current times, and like you said, he directed his points to a younger audience who are the most vulnerable and most likely to absorb the lessons he's trying to teach.
ReplyDeleteRick Riordan's Percy Jackson series were the first books I read that I actually liked and bought for my own collection. Riordan originally wrote the books for his son to learn more Greek mythology and in turn sparked the young minds of millions of children around him. I can still remember some of the stories from his books to this day. The books have been a stepping stone for many children and definitely deserves a little c distinction.
ReplyDeleteThese books were one of the first book series I was every super invested in while in grade school. I love the story of how Riordan starting writing them for his son, who had dyslexia, just like main character Percy Jackson. I feel like this is an example of how family motivated his creative process.
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