The Lightning Thief ~ Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson has some very bad luck (or so he thinks). His father was lost at sea when he was just a baby. He has a terrible, smelly stepfather who treats him mother very badly. He has been kicked out of six boarding schools in six years time. Strange, destructive things seem to happen when Percy goes on field trips, and Percy always gets the blame. The strangest, scariest event yet happens when Percy goes on a sixth grade field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Percy’s pre-algebra teacher sprouts wings and claws before his eyes and tries to kill him, and then his Latin teacher saves the day by throwing Percy a pen.

Sound strange? It seems very strange to Percy, too until he finds out the truth about himself. The ancient Greek myths that he has been studying in school are true! And he is the son of an Olympian (one of twelve Greek gods). His best friend from school is a satyr (part human, part goat), and his Latin teacher is really a centaur (part human, part horse). Mount Olympus (the home of the gods) is a real place, and it isn’t in Greece. It’s in New York City, on the six hundredth floor of the Empire State Building (which until now Percy thought had only 102 floors). Percy has a tough time believing all of this new information at first, but after a while Camp Half Blood, where the sons and daughters of the Olympians come to train during the summer, seems like home. When Percy first arrives he is labeled as an “undetermined” because he doesn’t know which Greek god is his father, but shortly after his arrival it becomes all too clear who Percy’s father is. With the identity of his father comes a responsibility for Percy. Percy’s father has been accused of stealing Zeus’s master lightning bolt. In order to prove his father’s innocence, Percy must go on a quest, find the real lightning thief, and return the master bolt to Zeus. Percy, Grover (the satyr) and Annabeth (daughter of Athena) set out for Los Angeles (the portal to the underworld). Along the way they are plagued by many well known monsters from Greek mythology who live among humans in disguise. They must return the bolt by the summer solstice or risk an all out war between the gods. It isn’t just the monsters who aren’t what they seem. Percy and his friends soon learn that the lightning thief isn’t who they thought it was, and this quest is even more deadly than they thought it would be.

Someone once told me that, while character-driven books win most of the literary rewards, it is plot-driven books that young people love the most. The Lightning Thief is most certainly a plot-driven book. It is a great read for kids that love action. The excitement begins in the very first chapter and doesn’t really let up until the last. I really enjoyed the book and found myself not wanting to put it down. I wanted to know what happened next! I am somewhat familiar with Greek mythology and I think that made the book even more interesting to me. Whenever the three heroes came upon a stranger, there would be clues as to which Greek monster was hiding within the human form. I thought it was fun trying to guess which monster it was. This book actually made me more curious about Greek mythology. I found myself going to Wikipedia and looking up the Olympians to learn more about them. The book is written in first person from Percy’s point of view, and it really feels as if the narrator is a boy of thirteen (albeit a very intelligent one), so it’s a very easy, comfortable read. I think young people who like fantasy and action will find this book full of thrills. I have already requested the next book, Sea of Monsters, from the library, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!