I am committed to writing appropriate books for the middle grades. This means no bad language, no gratuitous or explicit violence, and no sexual content beyond what you might find in a PG-rated movie โ expressions of who likes whom, holding hands, and perhaps the occasional kiss. The idea that we should treat sexual orientation itself as an adults-only topic, however, is absurd. Non-heterosexual children exist. To pretend they do not, to fail to recognize that they have needs for support and validation like any child, would be bad teaching, bad writing, and bad citizenship.
Rick Riordan[Tyson] looked him over with that massive baby-brown eye. โYou are not dead. I like it when you are not dead.โ Ella fluttered to the ground and began preening her feathers. โElla found a dog,โ she announced. โA large dog. And a Cyclops.โ Was she blushing? Before Percy could decide, his black mastiff pounced on him, knocking Percy to the ground and barking so loudly that even Arion backed up. โHey, Mrs. O'Leary,โ Percy said. โYeah, I love you, too, girl. Good dog.โ Hazel squeaked. โYou have a hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary?โ โLong story.
Rick RiordanEnemy giants moved towards the breech, and Tyson picked up the fallen warriorโs club. He yelled something to his fellow blacksmiths โ probably โFOR POSEIDON!โ โ but with his mouth full of peanut butter it sounded like, โPUH PTEH BUN.โ His brethren all grabbed hammers and chisels, yelled, โPEANUT BUTTER!โ and charged behind Tyson into battle.
Rick Riordan