About.com Rating

Overview

The first book in Rick Riordan’s popular Percy Jackson series, The Lightning Thief, is an entertaining introduction to the world of half-bloods, heroes, and Greek mythology. From the hilarious chapter titles (“We Take a Zebra to Vegas”), to the action-packed and thrilling chapters, to the great voice and clever writing of the characters, readers of all ages (but especially those ages 10 to 13) will find themselves immersed in Percy’s world, unable to put the book down.

The Story

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson has been kicked out of a lot of boarding schools.

He’s dyslexic, has ADHD, and trouble seems to find him. So, the last thing he wants to do is get kicked out of Yancy Academy. However, on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, things go horribly wrong when he, and his best friend Grover, are attacked by their math teacher-turned-monster.
Percy manages to get away, but after the fight, is horribly confused and thinks he’s hallucinating. He heads back to his mother’s Manhattan apartment, figuring he’ll be kicked out of school yet again. He doesn’t mention to anyone that he thinks he had monsters chasing him, until Grover shows up at his door, and reveals who he, Grover, really is - a satyr.

It turns out that Percy is a half-blood, the son of a Greek god, and there really are monsters after him, trying to kill him. The safest place is at Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp on Long Island for the children of the gods, so his mother drives Percy and Grover there. Even though the journey is not uneventful (they are chased by a minotaur), they get to camp safely.

There Percy is introduced to a new world of gods, magic, quests, and heroes. In spite of his confusion at the turn of events, Percy enjoys what camp has to offer (races, sword fighting, epic capture the flag games) makes some new friends at camp - Annabeth, a daughter of Athena; and Luke, a son of Hermes.

Then, two things happen. Percy’s mother is kidnapped and taken to the Underworld, and it’s revealed that someone has stolen Zeus’s master bolt. Percy is the main suspect, mostly because he’s the son of Poseidon (one of the Big Three Gods) and Zeus and Poseidon are currently feuding. Zeus has demanded the bolt be returned to him by the Summer Solstice, in 10 days. So, Percy -- along with Grover and Annabeth -- is sent on a quest to find the lightning bolt and return it to Mount Olympus (on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building ) before then.

The three head off on their quest, which takes them in all sorts of odd directions, to all sorts of adventures. There’s an incident with the furies, which results in a blown-up bus, a train ride (with the help of a pink poodle) to St. Louis, and a fight on the top of the St. Louis Arch, which results in Percy falling from there into the Mississippi River and learning what some of his powers as a half-blood are.

Soon after St. Louis, the trio meets up with Ares, the God of War, who requisitions them to retrieve his shield from a theme park. In return for accomplishing that, Ares gives them a backpack and a ride to Vegas. Once in Vegas, they check into the Lotus Hotel and Casino, where, much to their delight, they find unlimited everything. They stay until Percy strikes up a conversation with a kid who thinks it’s the 1970s, and comes to the realization that the casino is a time trap, and they have lost a week of their time. Escaping from the casino, the trio takes a taxi to LA, and enters the Underworld (which is behind a record store) to see Hades.

Once they bypass the safeguards surrounding the Underworld, they are taken to Hades, where they confront him and demand Percy’s mother back. Hades, in return, demands his Helm of Darkness be returned (which no one knew was missing), and he’s blaming Percy for the theft. As part of this exchange, Hades mentions that Zeus’s master bolt just happens to be in the backpack that Ares gave them.

The trio uses pearls given to Percy by a water spirit to escape the Underworld, but the sacrifice is that they have to leave Percy’s mother there. Back on the beach outside of LA, they discover that Ares has the Helm of Darkness and is angry because Percy ruined his plan for war between the gods. Ares and Percy fight, and as consequence of Percy winning, Ares gives Hades his Helm back. Hades then returns Percy’s mom.
Percy, Annabeth and Grover return to camp, expecting things to return to normal. However, on the last day, Percy and Luke are walking through the forest surrounding camp, when Luke a releases poisonous scorpion which bites Percy. Percy is incredulous: he thought Luke was a friend. But, it turns out that Luke actually works for Kronos, and was behind the theft of the master bolt. Percy barely makes it back to camp in time to save his life, and when he comes around, Luke has disappeared.

My Recommendation

While the plot sounds needlessly complicated, it works as a whole to keep the reader engaged. There’s an overarching story that holds all the smaller pieces together (Percy’s quest, and the beginning of an all-encompassing war with Kronos), but in many ways, it’s the smaller side stories with the minor gods and myths (like Medusa running Auntie M’s Garden Gnome Emporium; or Procrustes, who owns a mattress store) that make the story so much fun to read.
Riordan knows his myths inside and out, and knows how best to make them interesting to kids. It also has the benefit of appealing to both boys - Percy’s a great hero and a fascinating character - and girls - Annabeth is an incredible strong and smart heroine. The Lightning Thief provides a fantastic start to a fun series. I recommended it highly for ages 10 to 13. (Disney-Hyperion, 2005 hardcover, 2006 paperback. ISBN: 9780786838653)

Author Rick Riordan

A former 6th grade English and social studies teacher, Rick Riordan is currently the best-selling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Heroes of Olympus, which includes some of the characters and settings from the Percy Jackson series, and another series, The Kane Chronicles. He has also been a part of The 39 Clues Series. Riordan is an outspoken advocate of books that are accessible and interesting to read for kids with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. He is also the author of an award-winning mystery series for adults. Riordan lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife and two sons. (Source: Rick Riordan's Web site)

Greek Mythology Resources, From Your Guide to Children's Books, Elizabeth Kennedy

Reading the Percy Jackson series will probably pique your children's interest in Greek mythology, and I have some resources to recommend. The first is D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, which has been popular so long that you may remember it from your youth and your parents may also remember sharing it with you. On the About.com Ancient History site, you'll find a number of articles, including Greek Gods, Myths, and Legends: An Introduction to Greek Mythology, 12 Olympians - The Gods and Goddesses of Mt. Olympus and Poseidon.