by Antonio Sandoval

In this series by Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson is your average 12-year-old sixth grader. He suffers from dyslexia and ADHD and, as a result, is constantly in trouble and kicked out of boarding school. His mom is married to a jerk of a husband and stepfather who would rather play poker and smoke cigars than support his “family.” Percy has mythological monsters who have been sent to kill him, his best friend is half goat and he just so happens to be the only son of Poseidon, god of the seas. Yeah, Percy’s just your typical, everyday kid.

Realizing his life is far from normal — his math teacher is an evil monster who attacks him, his Latin teacher is half horse, his best friend is a satyr, the Greek gods actually exist, there’s a summer camp full of kids who are demigods and the sea god claims to be his father — Percy is having a few issues… Then the mythological world discovers that the all-powerful lightning bolt has been stolen from Zeus, god of all gods, bringing western civilization to the brink of witnessing a war between the brothers of Olympus. And who’s to blame? You guessed it: Percy.

The Greek gods use each other’s children in their feuds yet don’t even take the time to spend a few moments with their mortal kids. Percy grew up not knowing who his own father was and now knows plenty of other kids were neglected by one parent their whole lives as well. Until now. Accepting a quest to find and return Zeus’ lightning bolt before all of the Underworld breaks loose, Percy takes the opportunity to not only finally get the chance to meet his dad but also save his mother from Hades.

Percy, son of Poseidon, Grover, the satyr, and Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, are now on a journey west in search of Zeus’ bolt and are not alone. They keep running into more trouble with not only mythological creatures sent to kill them and Greek gods who seem to just be taunting them, but the (mortal) law too. To make matters worse, they only have ten days before Zeus declares war.

The Lightning Thief is book one in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. Rick Riordan continues Percy’s adventures in The Sea of Monsters, book two of five. You can read more on Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians, including the first chapter of every book in the series, by visiting the series website.

A film version was recently released on DVD as well.

Antonio Sandoval is 18 years old and a recent Reedley High School graduate who is now studying at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in LA.