In fifth grade, I saw a trailer for a brand new movie called Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.  Just coming off my first time reading Harry Potter, I was eager for more books, so once I got to school, I went to the library and got a copy of the Lightning Thief. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

I read all the books in about a month. I couldn’t put them down and I was sad when I got to the Last Olympian, the conclusion of the Percy Jackson series. When I found out he had written more books, I was ecstatic.

My childhood are those books. From Percy Jackson to the Kane Chronicles, middle school and high school was spent counting down the days to the new release. I couldn’t believe that books written for elementary and middle schoolers still carried over into high school and my adult life.

One of the greatest things about Rick Riordan’s books is the groundbreaking characters. Percy struggled with dyslexia and ADHD. I struggled in elementary school too, so it was nice having a hero that went through struggles in school. Annabeth was my rolemodel. She was a strong and smart female who was never the damsel in distress. All of the characters came from a different walk of life that a lot of different kids could relate too.

In the newest series called Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, a few characters have caused quite a lot of controversy. Alex is the child of Loki and is gender fluid. A lot of more conservative parents are not allowing their children to read this series because of that character and the LGBTQ+ themes of the book, including Magnus’ love interest is Alex.

Rick Riordan has been standing firm by his character. He knows that there are children much like Alex who need someone they can relate to in literature. The reason he started writing Percy Jackson is because his son struggled with ADHD and dyslexia, so he wanted to create a character that his son could look up to. Upon creating Alex and the relationship that was built in the Heroes of Olympus with Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace, Riordan has received the Stonewall Book award from the American Library Association. Riordan posted on Instagram: “Deeply honored that Hammer of Thor has won the Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association LGBTQ+ roundtable. I take this as a personal call to do more to promote great LGBTQ+ authors.”

Along with LGBTQ+ themes, his books have had diversity from the very beginning. His main heroes have come from all walks of life. He has had Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and African American characters that each have depth and strong personalities. Also in the Magnus Chase series, there is a Muslim character by the name of Sam. She wears a hijab and is proud of her religion. These book characters represent so much more than their stories, they represent every child of the world and show children the value of kindness.

Rick Riordan will always be one of my favorite authors. Not only is his writing exceptional, but it means something. I will continue to read these books in my adult life because it’s always a good thing to show unity in world, even in works of fiction. He is the best children’s author because he shows young minds different cultures and ways of life.

Don’t judge a book by its characters, especially if you can’t relate to them. There is some child out there who needs to have the diversity and adversity. Some children need to see that there are heroes just like them in world.