Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief

Bibliographic information: 

Riordan, Rick.  Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief.  Disney- Hyperion Book, 2006.

Brief plot description:

Ancient Greek God’s are alive and well in the 21^st century, but no one knows about it. Except for their illegitimate half children that they have with mortals and the mythological creatures peppered throughout the USA. Percy Jackson is one of these children. He is sent to Half Blood Hill, a summer camp for half gods. He is then accused of stealing Zeus’ thunder and must spend his summer trying to find the lightening and stop the gods from plunging into war. He does so and finds the true thief who then becomes the main antagonist for the rest of the stories as leader of the Titan’s resistance.

Brief review:

Percy does all this and more. The story and the myths brought forth in the story were accurate enough so that they could be believable. The book is appropriate for tweens in fourth through eighth grade and would make a great read aloud or individual read.  The book’s words are easy enough to read as well as keeping the story straight.  The plot twists were excellent and it completely blindsided me. The story ended neatly with all major problems wrapped up but just enough to make a successful sequel.  This book would be an excellent book to use with a mythology unit because it bring the Greek Gods to life in a way that modern kids can relate to. 

Genre label:

Modern Fantasy

Reading level/interest level:

7^th-8^th grade

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan

Children of the Red King Series by Jenny Nimmo

The Heroes of Olympus, Book  One: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan