The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What I liked: This was a fresh story told about things familiar to everyone. The characters were interesting and vivid. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see who [or how:] would show up next. This was a humorous adventure.

What I didn't like: That I have to wait for The Spawn to finish reading the next book to find out what Percy's up to next.
Final Thoughts: This seies is appealing to me on the same level as the Harry Potter series: characters I can relate to and a fantasy driven plot.

Pub. Date: April 2006
Series: Percy Jackson and The Olympians Book 1
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he s not even sure he believes himself.

Until the Minotaur chases him to summer camp.

Suddenly, mythical creatures seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy s Greek mythology textbook and into his life. The gods of Mount Olympus, he s coming to realize, are very much alive in the twenty-first century. And worse, he s angered a few of them: Zeus s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy has just ten days to find and return Zeus s stolen property, and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus.
Recommended Reading:
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan