Today I’m covering The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes! If I’m not mistaken, it’s the first middle grade I’ve done a Ten Things for, so let’s jump right in!
1. Zane
Zane is the twelve year old protagonist of the story. Even from the start, he’s not your average kid: he’s just spent a year being homeschooled, he often faces ostracizing at school, and has a close bond with a three legged dog. He manages to strike that balance of being an interesting character on his own, and being a good audience surrogate for the kids reading.
2. Hondo
Hondo is Zane’s uncle, but in all functionality he’s more like a big brother. He jumps at the chance to take an adventure, and he’s just all around a fun character to be a part of the main team.
3. Rosie
Rosie is Zane’s beloved three legged dog. It was cool to see the devotion that Zane has for his dog, and the way Zane cares for her shows a lot more about his character than anything else could.
4. Brooks
In a lot of ways, Brooks is Zane’s guide to this new world of Mayan gods. She’s the one that starts explaining to him exactly what supernatural things are going on, but she also has her own baggage to deal with. I found her backstory with her family particularly intriguing.
5. Mayan Mythology
I’m personally not very familiar with the specifics of Mayan mythology, so it was great to get glimpses into this other culture and mythos. I’d definitely recommend this for any kids that are interested in Mayan mythology.
6. The Plot Takes Turns I Didn’t See Coming
This one is pretty title-explanatory. I can’t elaborate for spoilers, but know that a few times I thought I knew what was going to happen next, but was wrong. (That's a good thing.)
7. Zane’s Leg
This one sounds weird but hear me out. One of Zane’s legs is longer than the other, so he has to walk around using a cane. It was cool to see some representation of what that kind of situation would be like, and I can imagine that if I were a kid with that, SR would mean the world to me.
8. The Framing Device
SR has a unique framing device: throughout the story, Zane as narrator is telling the story to the Mayan gods. There are a few bits here and there where he addresses them directly or makes a comment about how he thinks the gods will react to a certain part of the story. I thought this was a nice unique touch.
9. Similar but Still its Own Thing
So as a book under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, comparisons to PJO are inevitable. I’m happy to say that while SR and PJO share some strengths, and appeal to the same type of reader, SR manages to be its own thing.
10. The Ending
The ending ties up the main plot of the story and gives a satisfying conclusion, while also setting up what is clearly meant to be a series. I’m interested to see where it goes next.
So that’s THE STORM RUNNER! Let me know what you thought of SR in the comments below!
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