The Red Pyramid: connecting to others

     The Red Pyramid: The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan is about two siblings Carter and Sadie Cane who are reunited after being apart all their lives to save their father from and Egyptian God trying to take over the world. While reading this book, I not that this book is focused on connecting to the people close to you, and how to make that connection, or friendship, work.

     Another thing I noticed while reading this book is that friends are supposed to build you up, to stand by each other, not tear each other down. When someone is engulfed in self doubt, push them. Help them do better. This topic is discussed when Carter is doubting himself when he is told its up to him to save the world. This is because no one has encouraged him to try again if he fails. They simply just lose faith in him, and expect him to feel confident when they tell him he has to defeat an undefeated god. After realizing where Sadie has gone wrong, she begins to encourage her brother to do better, to train until the fight. Now whether she truly believes that he can accomplish this is a different story. All she knows is that she needs her brother by her side every step of the way, and if he needs confidence in order to do that, then that's what she'll give him.

     Also, I realized that in order to have a healthy relationship with someone, you must trust each other. This is shown when Bast, the goddess of cats, is hiding details about their mother's death. I believe that she was doing this so that the kids don't feel guilty about the fact that their mom sacrificed her life so that her children could protected. Later on in the story, Carter and Sadie learn the truth about their mother's death. At first, they are guilt-stricken about their mom's sacrifice, but afterwards, they realized their mom did this because she believed that they could change the world. This shows that Carter and Sadie are grateful that they learned the truth about their mother, instead of wondering why their mother isn't with them all their life.

     In conclusion, I believe that the book The Red Pyramid: The Kane Chronicles is centered around friendship, family, and coming to terms with an guilt-stricken past.