Module 8- The Lightning Thief

Book Cover Image:


Book Summary:  
Percy Jackson is a teenager living in New York City who dislikes school partially because of his learning disability, dyslexia, and partially because he seems to be in trouble where ever he goes.  After a trip to a local museum results in Percy being attacked, everything that Percy thinks he knows about himself is about to change.  His best friend is really a satyr, his teacher is really a centaur, and he is a demi-god, half- human and half-god, the son of one of the Greek gods.  Percy has to leave his mother and his home to attend camp Half-Blood which is a training center and school for demi-gods, and to escape the dangers that are hunting him at every turn in the world.  It is at camp Half-Blood that Percy learns that he is the son of Poseidon and that there is trouble brewing between the gods and if someone step in to stop it, there could be a war that would destroy all of the Earth.  Someone has stolen the master lightning bolt of Zeus, and Zeus believes that Poseidon is to blame.  Percy soon sets out with his best friend Grover, the satyr and Annabeth who is the daughter of Athena to find the master bolt and return it before the Summer Solstice and end all threats of war.  Their adventure takes them across the United States from New York to Los Angeles and they must face dangers such as Medusa, a casino that offer lotus blossoms which put anyone who eats them into a trance, Ares the god of war and many other obstacles that are straight out of Greek mythology.  Once they arrive in the Underwold Percy finds out that Hades does not have the master bolt and that he is also missing something, his helm of darkness, which he accuses Percy of stealing for Poseidon.  While in the Underworld the master bolt appears in Percy's backpack and the trio must escape Hades and now try to find the helm of darkness.  After finding Ares on a beach Percy learns that he had stolen the bolt and the helm from the person who had originally taken it and was hoping for a battle between the strongest of the Greek gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.  After fighting Ares and wounding him, Percy returns the helm to Hades and then returns the bolt to Zeus, meeting Zeus and his father Poseidon for the first time.  Percy tells them of the dreams he has had of Kronos and that he thinks that Kronos is planning a war on the Olympias to regain the power he once had before the Olympians.  Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood and is confronted by Luke, who turns out to be the one who stole the helm of darkness and the master bolt because he was working for Kronos.  After recovering from Luke's escape and his near death experience with a scorpion Percy return to his mother's house at the end of the summer.

APA Reference of Book:
Riordan, R. (2005). The lightning thief. New York, NY: Disney Hyperion Books.

Impressions:
This book will entice reluctant readers who may be struggling with their own learning disability such as dyslexia and/or ADHD.  It is also appealing to boys as well as girls, since there is plenty of action, fight scenes, mystery, drama, and a little bit of a love story intertwined.  Readers who love fantasy adventures will also be drawn to this book especially those who may be tired of the same old vampire or werewolf storyline that is so popular in young adult literature right now.  The readers are exposed to many different characters from within Greek mythology, so while they are reading a fictional story they are still learning about different topics of Greek mythology.  I never really enjoyed Greek mythology when we learned about it in school, but I enjoyed learning about it from within this book, and I think that this book may have readers looking up more books about Greek mythology.

Professional Review:

  Chased from his boarding school by monsters no one else sees, twelve-year-old Percy (Perseus) Jackson finds sanctuary at Camp Half-Blood, a Long Island summer camp for the hero offspring of the Greek gods. Identified as the son of Poseidon, Percy receives a mission: with two other camp residents, Annabeth and Grover, he must cross the United States to L.A. (Hades' residence in recent years) to steal or bargain back the master thunderbolt that was stolen from Zeus last Christmas. Annabeth, daughter of Athena, is a capable quester; the satyr Grover provides moral support as Percy's best friend. Together the triad bests Medusa, who runs a garden-statuary emporium; the Echidna, who rants about Australians' naming an anteater after her; Cerberus, who deep down just wants someone to play with; and finally the god Ares himself. Percy's uncertainty about his own place in the world balances nicely with his delight in finding that his dyslexia and ADHD actually have a purpose (he's hardwired with the ability to read ancient Greek and with killer battlefield reflexes). Percy is more than a youthful action hero; his ambivalence about his relationship to Poseidon--who, after all, ignored him for twelve years--and his devotion to his smart, loving mother infuse his adventures with the potential for his realistic personal growth (which the ending indicates may further develop in a sequel). Slick and savvy, this remix of classical lore will have contemporary readers hooked; make sure you get more than one copy.

Card, T. (2005, October). The lightning thief. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 59(2), 113. Retrieved from http://bccb.lis.illinois.edu/

Library Uses:
Have a teen night at the library titled "Lotus Lounge Night" where the library will be set up with different games like the ones that Percy and his friends would have encountered while under the trance at the Las Vegas casino.  By answering question about the book the teenagers would receive green pearls that allow them to play the games within the casino.  The refreshment would be cupcakes or cookies with a lotus flower decorating the top.