The lightning thief

by Rick Riordan

Paperback, 2005

Publication

Imprint: New York : Disney/Hyperion Paperbacks for Children, 2006, c2005. Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1). Responsibility: Rick Riordan. OCLC Number: 892888744. Physical: Text : 1 volume : 377 pages ; 20 cm. Features: Includes excerpt from book two.

Call number

Juv-Fic / Riord

Barcode

BK-08067

ISBN

9780786838653

Original publication date

2005-03-21

CSS Library Notes

Description: Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse -- Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon, a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

FY2019 /

Physical description

377 p.; 20 cm

Awards

Nebraska Golden Sower Award (Nominee — 2008)
Texas Bluebonnet Award (Nominee — 2006)
Soaring Eagle Book Award (Nominee — 2008)
Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominee — Middle Grade — 2009)
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2008)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Winner — Grades 4-8 — 2009)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2007)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2008)
Nutmeg Book Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 2008)
Iowa Teen Award (Nominee — 2009)
Mark Twain Readers Award (Nominee — 2008)
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award (Winner — Grades 6-8 — 2008)
Nēnē Award (Nominee — 2007, 2008)
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Nominee — 2008)
The Children's Book Award (Winner — Overall — 2006)
Colorado Blue Spruce Award (Nominee — 2008)
BILBY: Books I Love Best Yearly (Older Readers — 2011)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — Middle School — 2008)
Kids' Book Choice Awards (Finalist — Author of the Year — 2008)
Golden Archer Award (Nominee — 2009)
3 Apples Book Award (Winner — Children — 2017)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2009)
Isinglass Teen Read Award (Nominee — 2008)
Maud Hart Lovelace Award (Nominee — 2009)
Hampshire Book Awards (Shortlist — Hampshire Book Award — 2007)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2007)
Maine Student Book Award (Winner — 2007)
South Carolina Book Awards (Winner — Junior Book Award — 2008)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2006)
Read Aloud Indiana Book Award (Young Adult — 2005)

Media reviews

"The Lightning Thief" is perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats, and mysteries opening out in sequence. The action never feels gratuitous; it draws its depth from the myths at its source.
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Booklist
Riordan's fast-paced adventure is fresh, dangerous, and funny.

Description

After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

Language

Original language

English

Lexile

680L

User reviews

LibraryThing member TadAD
The hype surrounding the movie release has, inevitably, included a number of "The Next Harry Potter!!" claims. So, my opinion right up front: I'm not a Harry Potter fan-boy (especially of the later books) but this does not measure up to Rowlings' work.

The Lightning Thief has an interesting plot
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concept. The Greek Gods are still around and, occasionally, have children with mortals whom they largely ignore thereafter. Inevitably, the Olympians being the fractious group that they are, some of those children get sucked into a dangerous power struggle between the immortals.

Unfortunately, that's about it for the good points. The rest isn't bad so much as only fair. The most descriptive word I can think of for the writing is clumsy. The dialog is stilted, all characters other than the main ones are cardboard, and the plot lurches along at an uneven pace, taking little detours to add another character from Greek mythology into the story line for no apparent purpose.

Things with which the author hoped to surprise the reader fail to surprise—I figured out the traitor by about page 50 though the characters need until about page 350. There's even the cardinal sin that things obvious to my 12 year old weren't obvious to the adults in the book who had the same facts: "Let's see, you're the son of a god, you love the ocean more than anything, you can make water fly through the air, all tiredness falls away when you're in water...hmmm, whose your daddy? Nope, nope...nothing's ringing a bell here."

Perhaps the thing that bothered me the most was the awkward attempt at humor. I'm not referring to characters cracking a joke; those were fine. It was the off-the-wall elements that appeared at random intervals in an otherwise serious story that made me think Riordan was spontaneously channeling Terry Pratchett...very badly. I mean, come on, an EZ Pass lane to get into Hades?...that's out of place in a book with this tone.

Young readers may like this book and, given that they are the target audience, I don't say it's a bad story. However, I don't recommend it for older readers.
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LibraryThing member farfromkansas
I think I might be the only person in the world who hasn’t yet read a single Harry Potter book. I have nothing against J.K. Rowling – I’ve just never had the opportunity to sit down and read a few thousand pages of her writing. Because of this, the whole world of Muggles and Hogwarts is
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foreign territory for me, and I have no idea of what it feels like to belong inside the cult of Harry Potter.

However, after reading Rick Riordan’s first book in the Percy Jackson series, The Lightning Thief, I think I now understand the appeal of the Harry Potter genre: these kinds of books tap into an archetypal tradition of the supernatural while lovingly reaching out to today’s youth with an open hand. The Lightning Thief clearly aims for the same target audience as the Harry Potter books: middle-school readers who appreciate older fantasy stories of the supernatural. However, like the Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson books simultaneously have an appeal for older readers, who will appreciate Riordan’s clever incorporation of classical Greek mythology.

The Lightning Thief introduces its protagonist, Percy Jackson, as a kindhearted screw-up – a seventh-grader with special needs (he’s dyslexic and has ADD) who slightly resembles the Joey Pigza character from Jack Gantos. However, unlike Joey Pigza, Percy soon discovers that he is of nobler heritage: he is the “half-blood” son of Poseidon and a human mother. Over the course of the novel, Percy must track down Zeus’s missing lightning bolt (hence the book’s title) and restore peace to Mt. Olympus before a war amongst the gods breaks out and destroys the planet. As Percy makes his way through America on a cross-country quest from New York to Los Angeles, he encounters a variety of gods and monsters from Greek mythology (my personal favorite being Medusa’s appearance in “Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium”) and goes through an archetypal “coming of age” experience.

While Riordan’s novel is not perfect by any means, it provides a unique gateway for young readers to access the fantasy realm of Greek mythology. The Lightning Thief lacks the literary depth of more sophisticated novels, but the engaging narrative keeps its audience hooked throughout the entirety of the novel with all of its twists and turns. This isn’t fluff (like Diary of a Wimpy Kid), but it definitely falls into the “light reading” category. That being said, The Lightning Thief is a rewarding novel that will please readers of all ages.

God, how I wish Rick Riordan had published The Lightning Thief twenty years ago! As a kid who loved mythology and who was fascinated by fantasy novels, I would have greatly benefitted from reading Riordan’s novels… I only hope that I can track down that inner child and sit him down for the remaining four books in the Percy Jackson series.
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LibraryThing member coffee.is.yum
Great book! I finished this in a couple of days because I had such a hard time putting it down. Harry Potter fans, be prepared to walk away in shame while The Lightning Thief blows your pointy little hats off. Rick Riordan does what JKR didn't. The "hero" isn't the only hero. Not everything bad
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happens to this "hero". Instead, the half-blood training school consists of many heroes, many who help Percy Jackson accomplish his task. If you like mythology, prepared to be swept away. If you don't, be prepared to be intrigued.
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LibraryThing member tbert204
3.5 stars. I wanted to give it 4, but just couldn't do it.

The opening chapters were very good. Gets right to the action and let's us know there's a lot more to come. I was all in until his mom and stepfather were introduced. Just too cliche. The fat, greasy no-good stepfather that plays poker and
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calls the protagonist a punk. The mother is a clone of Polly Purebred, the goody damsel in distress.

Riordan's writing is tight and fast-paced and he kept me invested in the plot, so I looked past my disappointment in the parents. But then I really wished he hadn't used "half-blood" to described the half human/half god children since JK Rowlings universalized the term. I realize it's an appropriate description, but after reading it I couldn't stop seeing the parallels between this book and Harry Potter. It got distracting.

But Riordan kept me in story. The ending was lukewarm. The parents resolution not all that satisfactory. Luke's attempt to kill Jackson with a scorpion reminded me of Austin Powers. Why not just rid of him?

It felt like a middle grade book, and his target audience clearly loves it, so he succeeded without question. And that explains why his characters don't use any language beyond 'jerk' or 'punk'. At times, I thought the plot was getting interesting but then got very jokie-joke (like getting past Cerebus with a red ball). Rowlings managed to avoid this (sorry for the comparison, but 'half-blood' made me do it). She injected humor when appropriate and got serious when the plot needed it.

Riordan is a good writer and he'll continue to succeed with his demographic.
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LibraryThing member ashleymcquirk
This first book in the series is about a young boy who finds himself different form everyone else. He finds out that he is a special boy and that he is in fact part of a mythological world. He winds up at a place called Hogwa... I mean Camp Half-Blood and he discovers his affinity for water. Turns
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out he is the son of Poseidon and the prophecy is that he must recover the stolen lightning bolt. With the help of his two friends he ventures out on this special mission, encountering various mythological creatures along the way.

I think one of the biggest teaching opportunities presented with this book is how it provokes an understanding of Greek and Roman myths. It presents the stories with a fun and fairly delightful interpretation. Another teaching opportunity might be to have students act out some of the more dramatic scenes that take place in the novel. Acting out certain scenes helps students understand and relate to characters in a way that is different from just reading or even seeing the movie. Another teaching opportunity might be to have students argue the position of one of the gods in the conflict that is central to this book.

I gave this book 3 stars because at times I found the plot to be too predictable. It just seemed like everywhere he went he was attacked, and he never saw it coming. I guess I just found that to be mildly annoying but maybe an adolescent reader would not. Other than that issue I did like the book and found it an enjoyable read!
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LibraryThing member Wombat
My daughter and I recently made a day trip to Vermont to visit some friends. As this meant more than five hours in the car, she packed a variety of entertainments for herself. This book, which she had already read, was one of them. Shortly after we left home, she said to me, "Dad, do you mind if I
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read you Lightning Thief? I think you'd really like it." It seemed like a good way for us to pass the time, so I said yes.

With plenty of breaks to rest her voice, my daughter read almost half the book aloud on that trip. She finished reading the rest of it to me over the next week or two. All in all, it was a great time---for both of us. My daughter enjoyed sharing a favorite book with me; it was a fun story; and I was proud of the fluency and dramatic characterization she displayed in reading the book to me.

Percy Jackson is an unpopular dyslexic kid who has been kicked out of one boarding school after another. He has a loving mother, but a mean step-father who makes Percy's life miserable when he is at home in New York City. All of this changes when Percy discovers that his mysterious missing father is really a Greek god, making Percy a demi-god. He finds himself unexpectedly spending a summer at "Camp Half-Blood" a "camp" specifically designed for the half-mortal offspring of Olympus. Just as he starts to feel like he has finally found a place where he fits in, Percy and a couple friends must leave the camp on a quest to prevent a dispute between the gods from escalating into World War III. On an adventure filled trek across the United States, Percy and his friends run into all manner of creatures and events pulled from Greek mythology and updated to 21st century America.

All in all, this book was a blast. If you're familiar with the Greek myths, half the fun is trying to guess what character or story Riordan will throw into the plot next. Can you guess who that sales clerk or teacher really is before the author tells you? On top of this, Riordan does a brilliant job adapting the myths to modern times---Dionysus has been grounded (kicked off Olympus for 100 years) and is drinking Diet Coke since he's also been forbidden to indulge in his prefered beverage---wine. Houdini escaped from Hades, and all manner of (in)famous monsters are on the prowl.

The pacing was great for kids. Every chapter seemed to contain new adventures and to uncover more plot elements. The chapter titles were hilarious. The first chapter is titled, "I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher." Who could read that and not want to immediately dive into the chapter?

There were a few minor downsides. The major plot arc was (mostly) predictable. Maybe I just made some lucky guesses, but I think that with the multiple dream sequences and prophecies (not to mention a bit of familiarity with the underlying myths) some big pieces of the plot were clear from early on. Nevertheless, there were some unexpected bits at the end, and a lot of fun twists and turns on the way. And this was fine. After all, the target audience is probably middle school kids, not well-read 40-somethings.

Another minor annoyance---and again, something that probably is more noticeable to adult readers than the target audience---is the ease with which Percy dispatches or overcomes every obstacle in his path. He defeats monsters, evades traps, and outwits gods with an ease that would make the most illustrious of his demigod brethren---Heracles, Theseus, Perseus---envious. And this depsite the fact that he is a kid---just out of 6th grade---with almost no training and who has only discovered his true heritage in the previous two weeks. On a practical note, however, this means that the plot can be structured as a series of bite-sized mini-adventures built around real characters and situations from Greek mythology. And the small mini-adventures made this great read aloud material, as there were lots of easy spots to stop and take a break.
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LibraryThing member macbarbie07
Percy is the the main character in "The Lightning Thief," and he struggles with ADHD and dislexia. In the beginning of the story, Percy attends Yancy Academy; a private boarding school. Once he realizes he is a half blood he is sent to Camp Half-Blood, a greek demigod training school. There is alot
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of foreshadowing in this book and it leaves you knowing that something major is about to happen next. An example of foreshadowing is when Rick Riordan names Chapter 7, "My dinner goes up in smoke." There are also cliffhangers in this book like when the book says "There were no feet, they were hooves!" I liked this book because it left me wanting to read more! The vocabulary in this book was extraordinary and just made the book so interesting! You should read this book because it is very captivating, and while it is so fascinating, at the same time it is educational about the Greek mythology area.
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LibraryThing member StormRaven
The Lightning Thief is the first book in Rick Riordan's young adult oriented five book Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. As one would expect, the central character of the story is Percy Jackson, who opens the book as a fairly typical twelve year old struggling through his classes, dealing
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with both ADHD and dyslexia and trying to fit in socially and avoid getting kicked out of yet another school. Everything is turned upside down for him when he discovers that he is pursued by mytholgical monsters, his favorite teacher is actually Chiron, and Grover, his only friend, is actually a satyr who spends his time combing the Earth for the children of the Gods. In what is surely the fantasy of every socially awkward kid struggling through middle-school, Percy learns that he is, in fact, one of those children, which makes him a demi-god.

Percy quickly finds out, however, that being a demi-god means that monsters will hunt you down and try to kill you, which is why Grover and the other satyrs seek them out, so they can take them to safety. Along with his mother, Percy and Grover flee in his stepfather's car to Camp Half-Blood. Along the way Percy's mother is killedby a minotaur, which Percy slays. Camp Half-Blood turns out to be not just a refuge, but a a training ground for would-be heroes, and Percy, his parentage undetermined, takes up residence in the Hermes house. Things go more or less well until a crisis forces Percy's divine parent to openly claim him, and then sends Percy, along with grover and his newfound friend Annabeth (daughter of Athena) on a quest across the country to enter the Underworld and recover Zeus' stolen masterbolt. The heroes face several classic villains of Greek mythology along the way, make the acquaintance of Ares, the God of War, and finally confront Hades in his throne room. Of course, things aren't as simple as they appear to be on the surface, and various subtrefuges are revealed until finally the ultimate villain is uncovered and his plan foiled.

Through the book the story rolls forward at a pretty swift pace, moving Percy and his companions from point to point in fairly short order. The only somewhat slow portion of the book is between when percy arrives at Camp Half-Blood and when he sets out on his assigned quest, as most of the world building that develops Riordan's alternate reality takes place in this section, requiring a fair amount of information to be dumped on the reader while limited actual action is taking place. The other major weakness of the book crops up here too, which is that while everyone is wondering about who Jackson's actual divine parent is, the clues dropped are so heavy handed that any reader with any knowledge at all concerning Greek mythology will figure it out in pretty short order, and be left wondering why all these figures from actual Greek mythology like Chiron and Dionysus remain befuddled.

The one major criticism I have of the book is the idea that Mount Olympus, and thus the Greek Gods, follow the heart of Western culture and civlization about, which is why Mount Olympus is located above New York City in the book. Leaving aside the fact that it take a considerable amount of hubris to assert that the United States is the "heart of the West", the various cults of the Greek Gods were, by and large, impediments to the development of Western thought and culture. It was only when the Greek philosophers rejected the various divine explanations for things that science began to flourish - the birth of the idea of a natural universe probably began when Thlaes left Marduk out of his explanation for how the continents formed out of the sea. And the Greek Gods in Riordan's version live up to this - they are petty, vain, argumentative, short-sighted, and quite simply exemplars of why they aren't the source of Western culture, all the while remaining completely in line with their established character traits from actual Greek mythology.

Even so, Riordan has created a very believable fantasy reality, weaving in the mythological Gods and monsters of Greek myth into the fabric of modern life, giving the fantastic elements of the story a rooting in reality that serves as a reference point for young readers. Through their travels, Percy, Grover and Annabeth meet and overcome foes, but those foes are embedded in the world around them sufficiently well that famous figures of Greek mythology such as Medusa or Procrustes don't seem out of place (although a knowledgeable reader will probably spot the monsters long before the heros in the story do). The strong background coupled with the well-paced action scenes and the fact that all of the youthful protagonists are quite well-written and likable characters makes The Lightning Thief a great young adult fantasy, and an excellent book for any young reader who loves Greek myth, or just one who would enjoy being introduced to it.
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LibraryThing member kaelirenee
A young man thinks his biggest problems in life are his ADHD and dyslexia, maybe a bully or two, but then he discovers that he's half god.

This very clever book (written primarily for middle school to early highschool students, but rewarding and enjoyable for adults, too) imagines that the Greek
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gods are still around and still up to their old ways-especially going out and having children with mortals. The writing is very witty; the author had me laughing out loud more than once. The plot is great and never slows down.

Readers are rewarded for deep knowledge of Greek mythology by having an idea of where the author is going with his story. You can read the beginning of a description and know right away which monster or god it is. Keep in mind, this is a book written for young adults, so don't get too happy when you figure out the Oracle's prediction way before the other characters do. Also, seeing as this is a book about the gods' influence on Earth, don't be suprised by the large amount of deus ex machina in the plot.

My one and only complaint is that I felt the chapter headings contained too many spoilers.
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LibraryThing member the_hag
A delightfully fun read! Who couldn’t love Ares as a biker (a la Hell’s Angel’s), Poseidon as a beach comber, Procrustes styled after one of those sleezy late-night furniture salesmen and the furies as old lady knitters (of ugly socks, no less). This series doesn’t just draw the gods into
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modern times, it also brings the monsters -- Percy finds out on a school field trip that his Pre-Algebra teacher is a Harpy and later we meet the garden statue selling Medusa AND other mythical creatures (his best friend is a Satyr). If you ever wished The Iliad and The Odyssey were set in modern times and given an urban setting AND was best suited to readers age 9-14, well this book is for you!

Riordan brings to live a lush (and very modern) version of those Greek myths we all grow up loving, introducing the idea that the gods are real and they’ve continued to move from place to place over the centuries and that the gods have continued to sire children with mortals. These children are often raised at Camp Half-Blood because they apparently are irresistible to monsters (can you say lunch). In this first installment of the series, we are introduced to Percy Jackson who initially thinks he’s a loser because he’s been in 6 boarding schools in 6 years, he’s got the world’s smelliest step-dad, and he has ADD and ADHD. It turns out that these unfortunate circumstances are part and parcel of being a demigod. We are also introduced to Chiron (who hides the fact that he’s a Centaur with a magical wheel chair), Grover his best friend (and a satyr), Annabeth (daughter of Athena), Luke (son of Hermes), Clarisse (Daughter of Ares) and many more.

In many ways The Lightening Thief (and the other books in this series) are a rehashing of the traditional myths in a modern wrapper. At one point in the story one of the characters notes that the gods are boring, only interested in replaying the same cycles/events over and over, which is quite accurate from this author/stories point of view, but don’t let this stop you from reading because The Lightening Thief has lots to offer in terms of clever twists on the traditional stories. Here is happens that war is looming between the “big three” (Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades) because Zeus’ lightening bolt has been stolen right from under his nose during the winter solstice. Can Percy, Anabeth, and Grover save the day? You’ll have to read to find out. Overall, an adventure that is entertaining to read. I give it four stars and two thumbs up! It was a real treat to read this with my daughter.
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LibraryThing member Caspettee
Percy Jackson is an average 12 year old delinquent. He soon discovers however that not only is he a delinquent he is a half god delinquent. He is also at the centre of a war brewing among the gods and he must complete a heroes quest to save the world and find a way to rescue his mother. No
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pressure. With the help of Grover and Annabeth the three embark on a perilous and hysterically funny quest to retrieve Zeus's stolen thunderbolt.

To be honest I was sucked in from word go and was laughing the whole way through. Rick Riordan is a fabulous writer who has created a rich and vibrant world with well fleshed out characters. Percy has to be one of the most interesting leading character in a book I have come across in some time.This is not just a children's novel, many of the jokes I am sure were aimed at adults. Anyone who can modernise Greek mythology is a hero themselves in my mind.

A lot of people have raved about this series and I confess to being hesitant even doubtful that it could live up to the hype it has generated. But call me converted as I already adore this series and i have only read one book! I will be scrambling to get my hands on to the next book in the series.
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LibraryThing member bellalibrarian
Percy Jackson has just been kicked out of another boarding school. He returns home to his loving mother and smelly stepdad only to find that he is being chased by horrible monsters. A fight occurs, someone is hurt and disappears. When it seems like there is nowhere to turn, Percy finds Half-blood
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Hill, a summer camp for kids like him. Only then does he learn that he is a demi-god; the child of one of the major Greek Gods. Percy begins his quest as a demigod and sets out to save those closest to him.

I liked this book for a number of reasons. Mainly, this book is a great learning tool. I have never been able to keep names within Mythology straight, even after taking and passing a Mythology course. Just in this first book, readers learn the names and major roles of numerous figures in Greek Mythology, while at the same time reading about Percy Jackson and his quest as a demi-god. I am excited to read the second one!
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LibraryThing member rexrobotreviews
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan surpassed my expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed joining Percy Jackson on his first adventure. I love the Harry Potter series, so this was one of the recommendations on Amazon. I'm glad I took the chance and read it because this book is so much fun. Half-God.
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Half-Boy. That alone leads to a brilliant plot. The characters are extremely quirky and likable, you will find yourself relating to each of them and wanting to know more.

Percy Jackson is 12 years old and realizes his life is about to get complicated when his math teacher literally turns into a creature from hell. Is Percy insane for slaughtering his math teacher with a pen? Why doesn't anyone else remember her?

There were many times when humor smacked me in my face- I like being surprised with humor and this book had lots of that. Yep, I giggled with the characters AND I got to fight demons. Talk about a book taking you places! We get to watch Percy figure out who he is and what he is capable of. You will find yourself enthralled with the imagery of the sea, demigod camp and creatures.

In short, Percy finds out he is a demigod. He has to live at a camp so that the monsters can't endanger him and those around him. We find out the god who fathered him and what he must do to keep a war at bay between the greater gods. We even get to tag along with Percy as he fulfills his first dangerous quest.

This book is aimed at children from the ages of 8 - 12. That didn't hold me back! I read this book in a day because I couldn't put it down. It was action packed from page one. If you're into YA and you can do without romance- read this book. I can't wait until I have time to read the rest of the series.

I have one complaint- it was relatively predictable. I'm guessing this is only because I'm 23 reading a book that was written for a younger demographic. The predictability didn't take away from the novel, I loved it all. Who doesn't like being one step ahead of our hero and heroine?
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LibraryThing member goldfish3
I think Percy Jackson was a very good and interesting book. Percy has to get Zeus's lightning bolt from the Underworld. Percy is very brave because in chapter four he saves his friend Grover from a Minotuar. He is also sad because even though he saved Grover from the Minotuar, he couldn't save his
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mother in time and she disolved in chapter four. This book is very action-packed and exciting. For example, in chapter eight, all of the kids at Camp Half-Blood played capture the flag and Percy discoved he was the son of Posiedon after he was brutily attacked by the sons' and duaghters' of Ares, the god of war. The setting of this awesome book is at Camp Half-Blood and there are a lot of cliffhangers in this adventouros book. An example of forshadowing in this suspensful book is when Percy says "I wish I'd known how breifly I'd get to enjoy my new home," when he is talking about how he likes Camp Half-Blood on page 109. There are a lot of horrifing monsters in this book. think you should read this amazing book if you like action, adventure and suspense.
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LibraryThing member oppurtunemoon66
Percy is again kicked out of boarding school. He meets up with his mom and is caught in a HURRICANE. he then finds himself giltey of stealing Zeuss master bolt. He is on a quest with two friends to find the master bolt in ten days. If he doesnt find it then there is going to be a huge greek war. He
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is with his friends Grover and Annabeth. Also he has to get to Los Angles and return to the underworld to find a secret passage way down there too. When he does then he has to find a passage way into the Titans home.
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LibraryThing member tpikachu
The Percy Jackson series has been a very gripping story for me and for many others as well. The Greek Mythology is a unique and different environment and the author ties this story into the modern world with things like furies and other well known ancient Greek characters including
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Medusa,Posideon,Zeus,Hades, and other gods. It is surprising to find out how ancient Greece would look today. Good book.
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LibraryThing member posiden13
The Lightning thief by Rick Riordan definitely makes you keep the book in your hands and open the story takes place in a camp called CAMP HALF BLOOD a camp for half human half god children who need to learn how to harness their god like power Percy however is a son of posiden the god of water the
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plot of the story is the king of all gods master bolt was stolen and Percy has to find this master bolt by the summer solstice the theme of the lighting thief is fantasy,magical and mysterious. The main character is Percy Jackson "son of posiden", Percy also has dyslexia "i set my mintour horn on the table and went to sleep" i loved this book because you never knew what was going to happen next , not like NASCAR when they keep making left turns. You should read this book because....well why wouldn't you want to read about a gods sons adventures?!?!?!?!
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LibraryThing member prettyguy21
This book is about a young brave boy named Percy Jackson who is also determined to do his quest to return a lightning bolt back to Zeus .The setting of this book is at Camp Half-Blood which is a place where Percy Jackson trains and gets ready to go on a quest. The author also uses foreshadowing
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when Percy Jackson is at Medusa's place and Grover, a friend who goes on a quest with Percy, hears hissing there. When Percy is at Medusa's place he is very brave because on page 183 he kills Medusa. You should read this book because it is really exciting and it stays exciting throughout the whole book like when Percy fought Mrs. Dodds who is really monster who had wings that were big and her fingers stretched into long talons and she had a mouth full of yellow fangs . I liked this book because there is a lot of action when Percy fights monsters and it is adventurous because on the quest one thing that happens is they go on a bus and the bus explodes into peices.
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LibraryThing member zombiestalker
This book is about percy jackson the dislexic son of posieden the greek water god. he goes on his journies with his best friend grover a satyr and annabeth the daughter of athena. It was so cool how he fought the minotaur. Killed the madusa well the details at least. The book it self is amazing
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even with the detail in the fight scenes but the foreshdowing is a little obvious like when (Spoiler alert) he stepped into the water and he got "magically healed". I'd reccomend this book for kids at the age of 9 becuase its a very easy book to read. there are also other percy jackson books I loved obviously it's a whole series.
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LibraryThing member jeter2
The main setting is in Camp Half Blood which is a camp where all the kids and teenagers that are half bloods, which are half god and half human, go. Percy goes on a quest to return Zeus' s Lightning bolt. The theme in The Lightning Thief is, it doesn't matter how different someone is they can still
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be your friend. The main character Percy is a half blood. In the Lightning Thief Percy Jackson finds out he is the son of Poseiden when he gets healed by water on page 126. I liked this book because of all the action and how it's about fictitious gods and it's suspenseful. I think you should read this book because it's a really fun book to read because it has a lot of fighting like when Percy fights Clarisse in the bathroom on page 75-95.
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LibraryThing member rachelick
Percy-- Perseus-- Jackson is a boy with worse-than-usual luck; he has moved from school to school his whole life and frequently seems to get in trouble without meaning to. When he accidentally "vaporizes" his math teacher, it seems that something larger is at work. Percy discovers that he is the
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progeny of one of the twelve gods of Greek myth-- and that he is being blamed for something else he didn't do. He has no choice but to embark on a quest to fix what's gone wrong. Particularly intriguing for those with background knowledge of Greco-Roman mythology, but still fun for those without, Percy's adventure is an entertaining romp through the collision of two worlds, with enough suspense to keep readers hooked (and laughing) to the last page and beyond.
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LibraryThing member FDF6
Percy Jackson is a brave boy because on page 55 he defeated a frightening minotaur. He is different from other kids because he fights scary monsters. Rick Riordan chooses Camp-Half blood for the main setting in The Lightning Thief. In some of the chapters Rick Riordan uses cliffhangers to keep you
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excited in the story. I liked this book because Rick Riordan makes the story exciting and entertaining by using cliffhangers the whole time. There is no time that is boring . He teaches you about the Greek gods too. You should read this book because it is filled with action. It leaves you on the edge of your chair.
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LibraryThing member 3meraldlove
Percy Jackson was a very interesting book, I espaially loved it beccause of all the action. In this book the main character Percy faces many chalanges. If your to read this book you might find Percy gullable. In chapter eleven while Percy is on a very important mission his two companions sence
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danger. Of coarse Percy doesn't listen and trusts someone he doesn't know. Which in the end the stranger(Medusa) is just trying to kill Percy. I also believe if you were to read this book you'd find Percy to be a very sarcastic child. For example in chapter six Percy replied rudly numerous times to one of the toughest kids in ccamp half bood. Clarrise daughter of Ares god of war. In the begginig of the story Percy is just a kid, a kid with dyslexia. Everything changes when his math teacher Mrs. Dodds trys to kill him.This book is also very enjoyable because there isn't just one setting, The Lightning Thief has many settings but it mainly takes place in camp half blood, where Demi-gods are trained and protected. This book is action paked and very exciting! If those are the kind of books you enjoy I reccomend this book for you.
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LibraryThing member chow1
The book, The Lightning Thief, was really good because it was filled with action. There were a lot of gods and monsters who battled the characters in the book. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover work as a team to kill them and save his mother. This is my favorite book and it can yours be too. This book
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doesn't just stop here, there are 5 books in this series. If you like it, you can keep on reading them this book is good for young readers who likes books they are funny too.This book is exicting with cliffhangers like when Percy blew up the bus and they didnt know what to do next page (149). Every page you read you will want to read more. This book will be good for young readers who like action and a quick read there are(375)
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
One of the things that makes this novel unique is the layering of Greek mythology in the plot. Not only does this make for exciting adventures, but it introduces a whole generation to the wonders of a cultural story that is easy to miss amid the video games and superhero movies. Percy finds himself
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in the place many protagonists in fantasy stories do - discovering he isn't who he thinks he is - that there is a magical world waiting for him to join. He proves himself brave and he has good friends and he uses his brain. Mr. Riordan promises more thrilling adventures in the end, as Percy is just beginning his journey as a demigod.
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(7443 ratings; 4.1)
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