The Lightning Thief

Plot Summary: Percy Jackson is a twelve-year-old boy, diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, who has been expelled from six schools, the latest being Yancy Academy. During a school field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York city, his pre-algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds, attacks Percy, revealing that she is one of the three Furies. Percy's mother Sally allows his stepfather Gabe Ugliano to mistreat them both because Gabe "takes care of them" financially. To get away from Gabe, Sally takes Percy on a trip to Long Island for a three day vacation.

In the middle of the first night, Percy's closest friend and former classmate at Yancy Academy, Grover Underwood, who is revealed to be a satyr , warns him that the "Kindly Ones", The Furies, are trying to kill him. Sally drives them both to Camp Half-Blood, a camp for demigods where they can train. On the way there, they are attacked by a Minotaur, which grabs Percy's mother by her throat. She dissolves into a golden shower of light, while Grover and Percy narrowly escape and enter the camp. There, Percy passes out and is taken care of for a few days by Camp Half-Blood.

Percy is moved into the Hermes cabin, under the care of Luke Castellan, the cabin's counselor. The Hermes cabin is established to be the place where all demigods with unknown parentage are placed. Clarisse, a daughter of Ares, says newcomers at camp have to have their heads dunked into a filthy toilet and tries to dunk Percy's head into a toilet with her friends. However, the water responds to Percy and Clarisse, her friends, and Annabeth are drenched instead. For revenge, during a game of capture the flag, Clarisse and her siblings attack Percy. He steps into the adjoining river and is healed by the waters while Poseidon's trident appears above his head, revealing him to be the son of Poseidon. Unfortunately, it also means that Poseidon has broken an oath that he, Hades and Zeus took after the Second World War to refrain from having any more children with mortal women, as the children can become too powerful and become a threat. Such an example is demonstrated when Chiron mentions the story of Thalia Grace, an unfortunate daughter of Zeus. Percy is granted a quest to find Zeus's Master Bolt which Chironi, one of Percy's tutors at the camp, believes Hades has stolen. Zeus, however, believes Poseidon had Percy steal the bolt.

Percy has ten days before the summer solstice to find the bolt and is given magic flying shoes by Luke before leaving on the quest with Annabeth and Grover. Percy decides to travel west to reach the entrance to the underworld in Hollywood. They encounter a lot of monsters during the trip but they still manage to safely return the bolt to Zeus.

Theme:  The theme of this story is friendship and that you have to fight even in the worst situations and not give up hope. For example, Percy's friend Grover is always by Percy's side even though he is really scared at times. The same goes for Annabeth even though she doesn't really have a good relationship with Percy she is still by his side helping him.  Also Percy was in a lot of pretty dangerous situations that in most cases put his life in danger but in the end he got through it. To me these are two pretty awesome themes that go absolutely perfect with this thrilling story.

Favorite Quote:  My favorite quote in this perfectly-paced story is "If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened." I like this quote because even though the story is fiction this quote stresses the seriousness of the story and its characters.  This quote pulls you read the book of how the quote is written. It is filled with suspense and a  beautiful sense of despair. That's why I love this quote. It makes me think and I love a good challenge.

Recommendation:  I heavily recommend this story because it is a perfect blend of action, romance, heroism, mystery, and adventure. I guarantee that this story will keep you glued to your seat from the first sentence. This book is perfectly-paced and is a great story. This is the kind of story that will glue your eyes to the book and will keep you wondering what will happen next. If your'e into adventure and action I guarantee you will love this book. It is truly an amazing story.                                    - Sammy the WWE fan.