The Red Pyramid

Riordan, R. (2010). The red pyramid . New York: Disney/Hyperion Books. 

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan is a New York Times bestseller.

Carter and his father, Julius Kane are visiting Sadie in England, Julius accidentally releases Nephthys, Isis, Horus and Osiris, he becomes a host for Osiris and goes to the underworld leaving his two children to deal with his "death." Sadie and Carter go with their uncle Amos to the Brooklyn house and learn that the god Set is planning to release Apophis who will destroy the modern world to rule and bring back the ancient world. Carter and Sadie become involved in a quest to stop Set from gaining the power to release Apophis, they meet Zia and Chief Lector Iskandar, magicians of the First Nome (in Egypt), they meet and work with other gods that are against the chaos that Set is about to create. When Kane children go to the Red Pyramid in Phoenix, the battle between Set and the children ends with Set joining them to stop Apophis and the children are rewarded by Horus and Isis, the Brooklyn house will be repaired and they will be allowed to call on other children whom have the blood of pharaohs to be trained magicians for the next trial, Apophis will return...

I enjoy reading this fast-paced adventure book, Sadie and Carter are siblings that have lived separate lives and have to learn to work together for a greater good, Sadie learns a lot from Carter and the reader can see how she accepts her new life and begins to enjoy having a brother to share things with. Both teenagers "fall in love" with Egyptian figures and become attached to their peculiar uncle Amos. Rick Riordan has the ability to write humorous books that can also be intriguing!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Rowling, J. K. (2007). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Harry Potter #7. NY: Scholastic.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling is fantasy book. A New York Times bestseller.

The Harry Potter series is in the list of Challenged books, see www.bookspot.com

Exposition: Harry and Hermione must leave their homes and join the magicians that are part of the Order of the Phoenix. During a well planned flight, the group is attacked by death eaters and Voldemort resulting in Professor Moody's death and other injuries to the group members.
Conflict: Harry and his friends must destroy all the hocruxes in order to kill Voldemort, while trying to do this, Harry must learn painful things about others including Dumbledore. They will risk their own lives to be able to rid the world of such evil.
Rising Action: Harry, Hermione and Ron receive objects that Professor Dumbledore left for them. After another attack during William Weasley's wedding, Harry, Hermione and Ron begin looking for the horcruxes in order to destroy Voldemort. There is conflict between the three friends when one of the horcruxes is causing negative feelings when they hold it. The trio finds about the Hallows, three objects that will help them defeat Voldemort.
Climax: Harry learns that another horcrux is in Howarts and the trio decides to go there to find and destroy it. Harry discovers that he must die to kill Voldemort and during their time at Howarts, a battle between Harry's supporters and Voldemort and his followers begins. Harry sacrifices himself and comes back to life, Neville kills Nagini, destroying the last horcrux and Voldemort is finally defeated.
Falling Action: The wizards beging a recovering process and reopen Howarts.
Resolution: 19 years after the final battle Harry and Ginny, are about to send their son Albus to Howarts, other beloved friends and families, Hermione and Ron with their children and Teddy Lupin, Harry's godson. Everyone has had a calm and happy life and Harry was not persecuted any longer.

I enjoyed reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the story was written to show the readers how the young characters overcome their fears and work along with the adult characters that help them through battles and even planning rebellion against the magic ministry. The literary qualities that I choose for this story are dialoge and unexpected insights. With her use of dialog, Rowling gives readers the opportunity to become part of the story and witness the characters' moods, attitudes and feelings towards situations and each other. The use of surprises in the story such as  Doby, Fred Weasley, and Lupin's death, professor Snape willingness to sacrifice his life (and he did) for the greater good, these unexpected elements bring depth and a bit of reality to the story, when there is a battle, people die. The conclusion of the book takes the reader to the adult life of these beloved characters as they send their own children off to Howarts, Draco sends his son  and so do Harry and Ginny, the reader could conclude that those children could be adversaries as their parents were when they were younger.