I held off buying The Lightning Thief for a couple of years. The market seems glutted with Young Adult fantasy at the moment, and I read quite a bit of it with my nine-year-old. We've discovered several good series, but The Lightning Thief seemed too long to hold his attention when it first came out.
This year we noticed it in the book fair at school, then saw that it was an Accelerated Reader book. So I picked it up and read a couple chapters to try it out. I was 50 pages into it when I realized I needed to be reading this to my son.
I did read it to him. We flew through the book (375 pages!) in six days because he kept pestering me to read it to him. We finished it up in a five-hour marathon yesterday, hanging onto every page as Percy and his friends tried to save the world and put things to rights in their own lives.
The Lightning Thief is a great book for adults and kids. I've already recommended it to a couple of adult friends who experienced the same kind of can't-put-it-down pull that I did.
Percy Jackson, the hero of the book, comes across as every kid you'd ever meet or ever would. He's no brainiac (he has dyslexia and ADHD) but he has friends who are. But he is courageous and clever, stubborn and loyal. He is the best he can be, and he's getting even better.
Riordan works in many of the Greek myths in the novel. There was a time when knowing Greek mythology was a pre-requisite for having a "classical" education. Many morals and philosophies are presented in the tales.
From the very beginning of the novel, we find out Percy is different when he ends up fighting a harpy in the museum while on a school trip. He's been kicked out of six schools in six years, lives with his mom and step-dad, Smelly Gabe, an evil guy who deliberately makes Percy's life hard.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Katie McNeill
Well now I will have to read it! I've seen this series all over the net, it seems like everywhere I go they are saying wonderful things about these books. Thanks for the review Mel! Looking forward to reading it. :)
2 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!
3 - Joshua
I loved this book and I would recomend it to readers worldwide. "The Lightning Thief" is such an inspiring book and it made me jump with excitment every time Percy took a step.
4 - Eston
so far i have been reading this book and it is so good i at the part where he just fell in the hole near the weird dog that turned into a fire breathing thingy.i have been reading this book for weeks now and i love it!! i like grover. hes funny and he likes to eat tin cans. soo i
guess this is what i want to say so well u should read it if u havnt. peace
5 - melody
I love this book! At first I thought it was a boring book but when you finish reading it is so awsome. I loved the other two books and I think there is one missing and please I would love it if it czme in my hands
6 - rick riordan is cool
This book is so awsome im doing a report on it
7 - erica
i finished this book in a day! all throughout school i was reading it, the bus, home and then another 5 hours! its deffinatly one of my favorite books!
8 - SO GOOD
I READ THIS STORY AND IT IS GREAT!!
9 - stefanie
best book in whole wide world couldnt believe it!
10 - batman
where the fuck is book 4
11 - ggrrrrrrrrrr
nice
12 - pampered1
I LOVED THE BOOK! I read it once and then read it again! This book is fantastic i hope rick riordan makes a fifth one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
13 - littlelion66
i hope rick riordon comes out with a 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th it will take a wile but it will be great
14 - matt
im reading it right now and its amazing!!!!!
15 - eric
can any 1 give me a summary on book #1
16 - Sam
i love this series right now i am starting the third book and i started reading the series only 6 days ago! i finished the 2nd yesterday and now i am going to do a book report on it it is so good!!!! everyone should read it...it.is.very.good.
17 - alan
wow, what can I say about it....? i love it!
18 - Stanislav
I first saw this book in a book store but I decided not to buy it. Then I saw it in a book order and bought it. I tried to read it every chance I got. Now I have to do a report on it!!!!!!!!!!!
I think EVERYONE should read this.
19 - michaela
AwEsOmE bOoK!!!
20 - ji le
this buk is awsome ull totally think this is awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
21 - Aaron
I'm reading the first book right now, it's amazing. I'm at the part where they got out og the Lotus Hotel and killed the water bed guy, what was his name... oh yeah "the stretcher" or "crusty"
22 - annabeth
best book ever!!!!!!!!!!! ok every1 who sees this comment, give it a rating 1-10
(10 is highest)
i rate it a 9 because its a bit to short
23 - keaton
i have the book it is so good and now im doing a book recamendation on it for school its so good. everybody should read it.
24 - Lin-z
this is seriously the best book/series ever!
25 - Caroline
This is honestly one of the best books i've ever read i recomed this to anyone who needs a great book!