The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson is a boy who is troubled academically. Every year he has been expelled from every boarding school he has ever gone to. He has a friend named Grover (or should I say goat-friend) and a paralyzed Latin teacher, and a freaky pre-algebra teacher. Percy is sent to camp "Half-Blood" which contains mythical satyrs, Naiads, and even sons and daughters of the twelve Olympian gods and goddesses. Through many events in his life, and with Greek mythology taking over his half-blood world, he is yet to see the adventure that awaits him in the Underworld, the Realm of Hades...and Percy must find out which one of the twelve Olympians is his father.

If you want to know some of the dangerous people, places, and things Percy must face:
Hades: God of the Underworld
Chimera: Wild, savage beast
Echidna: Mother of Beasts
Medusa: Snake woman
The Three Fates: they know who will die and who will live
The Three Furies: the most dreaded of the monsters of Hades
Hellhound: a huge, savage dog sent to kill heroes
Ares: God of War
Clarisse: Daughter of Ares, threatens Percy

These are but some of the evil things Percy must face. But there is a good side to all, and that is why you must READ!

-A. Davis


I have recently read the book "The Lightning Thief", about the son a a normal New Yorker mother but a larger than life father. This book rotates around the Greek myths, and is full of adventure and humor.

Everything starts when, on a field trip, an annoying little girl bothers Percy's best friend, Grover (who turns out to be a Satyr, half man and half goat). Percy tries to hold his anger in, but somehow he gets Nancy, the annoying girl, into a fountain. Later, Percy goes to a camp called "Camp Half Blood", where he meets other demigods (half human, half god). He learns about his father, and how all the old Greek myths are actually true.

Percy also discovers that he should never have been born, because his father is one of the most powerful gods, the Big Three (Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon) and the children of those three gods caused World War II, so the three gods promised not to have any more children.

Percy leaves on a quest, but I will stop there so I won't spoil it for you. You're going to have to read for yourself to find out what happens.

-Y. Zarrouk



Percy is just an average kid. Well, not so average. He was born with ADHD and other issues he was born with. Every school he attends, he got expelled from so far. The Latin class decides to go on a field trip. So their Latin teacher and the class including Percy and his best friend, goes to a local museum. His teacher turns into some weird monster thing and attacks him. Even more weird is that his Latin teacher threw him a pen that somehow turned into a sword. When he returned the next day the teacher is gone and no one seems to remember what had happened. He eventually gets caught up with a war that involves the Gods from the Classical Greek myths. Apparently, Zeus’s lightning bolt was stolen, everyone suspects each other and Percy is one of those suspects. So unless he brings back the lightning bolt a war of Gods will break out.

-S. Kim

Percy Jackson is a straight "F" student who has ADHD. He's been kicked out of every boarding school he goes to. He finally stays at school for almost a year, but then they go on a field trip to a local museum. There he is attacked by one of his teachers who turns into an ugly monster, and what's really weird is that his paralyzed Latin teacher tosses him a pen that turns into a sword. He soon finds out his friend Grover is a Satyr, and that he is a demigod. Turns out that his real father isn't a drunk, mean, gambler, he is one of the three main Greek gods. Percy is told about a camp called Camp Half-Blood. On the way, he gets attacked by another creature, the Minotaur. You won't believe what happens next, I didn't!

-R. Gorrin