Odin's Ravens (The Blackwell Pages, 2) - Softcover

Armstrong, K. L.; Marr, Melissa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316204994 ISBN 13: 9780316204996

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2015

Seven kids, Thor's hammer, and a whole lot of Valkyries are the only things standing against the end of the world.
When thirteen-year-old Matt Thorsen and Fen and Laurie Brekke, modern-day descendants of Thor and Loki, discovered they were fated to take the places of the Norse Gods in a battle against the apocalypse, they thought they knew how things would play out. Gather the other descendants, defeat a giant serpent, and save the world. No problem, right?

Wrong. The descendants' journey grinds to a halt when their friend Baldwin is poisoned and Matt, Fen, and Laurie must travel to the Underworld in hopes of saving him. From there, they'll have to reunite the challengers, find Thor's hammer, and save humanity - that is, if they can survive a journey filled with enough monstrous beasts and godly enemies to make Matt and his friends legends in their own right.

About the Author:

K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr had been friends for several years and found themselves spending hours talking about mythology and monsters. With that shared interest, in addition to K.L.'s love for tackling creatures in video games when not writing (and sometimes when she's supposed to be writing), their monster and myth fixation, and the books they read with their 11- to 13-year-old sons, they knew they had to write the Blackwell Pages.

From Booklist:

This sequel to Loki’s Wolves (2013) delivers plenty of action as well as reflective moments for its five main characters, teens descended from the Norse gods Thor, Loki, Baldur, and Odin. Former middle-school classmates Matt, Laurie, and Fen rescue their friend Baldwin from the underworld, defeat a cave bear, and fight many zombie-like draugrs, while their ally Owen faces his own challenges, rejoining his pals when he can. All the young descendants of the gods struggle to come to terms with their roles in the coming epic battle foretold in Norse mythology. The second volume in the fast-paced Blackwell Pages series, this flows well, developing the main characters and offering moments of humor even as it delivers exciting scenes of quest, combat, and adventure. Narrative shifts from one teen hero to another add further dimension to the story as the characters confront personal insecurities, suspicions of each other, and their terrifying enemies. Keep this series in mind for Percy Jackson fans in search of fresh reading material. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The Blackwell Pages looks poised to join Armstrong and Marr’s previous series on the bestseller lists, and the extra push from a multi-platform marketing campaign should help. Grades 4-7. --Carolyn Phelan