The Lightning Thief

This thrilling story starts off with a boy named Percy Jackson. Percy has been kicked out of every single boarding school he has ever been to. He only sees his mom in the summer and has never met his dad since he was a baby. This year at Yancy Academy he is going to do whatever it takes to not get kicked out. When he goes on a field trip with his class to an art museum to look at Greek and Roman stuff, wierd things start happening. First, he somehow caused a wave to form out of a fountain and hit his arch enemy, Nancy, during lunch. Then, his math teacher Mrs. Dodds, turns into a monster when she and Percy are  alone and tries to kill him. Everyone acts like they never even had a teacher named Mrs. Dodds. But Percy knew that something was up.

A couple of weeks later he got out of school and could finally go see his mom again. To celebrate his return, his mom surprises him by taking him to a beach house. The weather started getting horrible there. It looked as if a hurricane was about to start when Grover, Percy's best friend from Yancy Academy, barges in and tells them that they need to leave immediately. So much for Percy's greatest surprise present ever.

The three of them hop in the Camaro and after many crazy events, such as Percy's mom DYING, Percy ends up in a summer camp. But this camp isn't just any ordinary summer camp, it is a summer camp full of half-bloods. At this camp, Percy learns that his dad is a god. He also learns how to fight off monsters. The campers are seperated into cabins according to their parent. There are twelve cabins to represent the twelve main gods. Percy doesn't know who his father is yet so he went in Herme's cabin becuase Herme's is the god of travelers.

Just like the museum, wierd things start happening at the camp too. Ares' kids were bullying him the first day and took him to the bathroom to dump his head in the toilet. When he was about to get dumped, there was a wierd tug in his stomach and water shot out of the toilet and into their faces. How did he do that?? Later, when the camp had finished their game of capture the flag, a monster came and attacked Percy. He would've died but as he was attacked, he fell into the river. Instantly, Percy felt better and wounds of his body started to heal. There was the sign of a trident above his head. Percy was the son of Poseidon.

Lately, there has been a fight in Mount Olympus becuase someone took Zues' master lightning bolt. Zues blamed Poseidon but Poseidon refused to admit it was him that took it. A war was stirring up. Zues said if the bolt wasn't returned by Summer Solstice, a very bad war would start.

Right when Percy is starting to fit in, he's called on a quest to find the master bolt before the summer solstice. It's up to him to help his dad prove it wasn't him who took it. He asks his best friend Grover and a girl named Annabeth to help him on the quest.

This is an awesome book. Rick Riordan creates very likable characters. He gives great detail of each character's personality and physical description. There are many funny jokes throughout the book. You can skip over lots of these jokes if you don't have enough background knowledge on Greek Mythology. So, it really helps to know a little about greek mythology before reading it.  Knowing more on the subject would help understanding some of the jokes as I said before, and, even more important, what they are even talking about. Even if you know nothing at all about greek mythology, I would still read this book if I were you. You would really like the suspense and adventure of the book. However, if you like funny books, you should get some knowledge. Rick Riordan explains what is going on very well. I didn't know too much about greek mythology, but after I read this book, I felt I knew a lot more than what I started with. Throughout the book, you learn many interesting facts about Greek Mythology. It never is boring and can keep you up all night. I can tell this series is going to be a good one! I would recommend this book to anyone!!