The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)

Around here, the movie version of this was advertised on billboards reading something to the effect of:

Rick Riordan’s

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Lighting Thief

It was a lot of really big font.  Also a lot of names.  My husband turned to me expecting some type of help or translation:  “What’s with that movie with all the names?”  I couldn’t really help him.  I mean I was familiar with the hype but I hadn’t had any personal experience with any of it.

So now that I’ve read it, I’m prepared to discuss.  The Lightning Thief is nothing if not action packed, moving from one exciting sequence to another.  It’s the kind of constant battling that will without a doubt appeal to a generation that loves video games and television and the instant gratification of text messaging.  Riordan is plenty heavy-handed with foreshadowing so the reader has the opportunity to feel clever at having figured things out all on his own.   (This adult reader may have felt he was a little too heavy handed but I’m not the target audience, so feel free to ignore me).  We’ve been promised that our hero Percy is, in fact, a hero.  We are not denied.  Percy is nearly infallible from the start.  It leads to a certain shallowness of character that failed to impress me, but many readers will find great joy in the predictability of Percy’s success.

I’d recommend this for middle school and up.  We have it in our elementary school library but as with all things that dabble in Greek mythology you’re dealing in certain death, battling and trickery as well as questionable sexual habits on the part of the gods.

Promise me: If one your children or students is reading this book, please make sure they know that Greek mythology is a real thing and that Riordan didn’t just make it all up for the book.  I’ve conferenced with more than one young reader who was pretty certain it was all just created for this series.  As someone who adores mythology it hurts my heart.

Great for: Reluctant readers or action junkies.  It’s certainly a page turner and plenty of fun, grown-ups can feel good about handing this one off because in with all the heroism and battling, Greek mythology is lending the book some classical class.  It does read a bit easier for those already familiar with mythology but for those who are not, grab D’Aulaires’ as a read along or a follow up and keep your readers engaged.

An additional appealing factor for reluctant readers is that Percy himself struggles as a student.  Calling himself ADHD and dyslexic, he struggles with reading and fitting it at school.  He ends up explaining the ADHD as highly tuned godlike instincts and the dyslexia as having a brain hard-wired to read ancient Greek rather than English.  It’s a fantasy many struggling students would be happy to join in but a normalization everyone can feel good about.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Nancy makes sarcastic kissing noises at Percy.  Percy’s parents weren’t married.  Percy is warned the Naiads are flirts. Wood nymphs joke about running from love-sick gods.  Athena once caught Poseidon and his girlfriend in her temple.  There’s definitely infidelity among the gods.  When trying to decide why two gods may have been a certain place, Percy decides its because the place is mirrored and they could watch themselves kiss.
Profanity – “jerk,” “shut up,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Percy’s mom’s parents were killed in a plane crash and her uncle died of cancer.  Also, there’s the whole bit about Kronos eating and vomiting up his children again, with the added bonus of learning how they chopped him up with a scythe afterward. The oracle is a seriously creepy dead mummy thing.  A motorcycle seat is covered in human skin rather than leather.  A throne made of human bones.  There is frequent battling and many monsters are killed.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Percy thinks his lunch may have been contaminated with magic mushrooms. Percy calls a teacher an old sot.  Percy’s stepfather has left beer cans all over the apartment and he smokes cigars.  Percy thinks Mr. D the camp director drinks (turns out he’s Dionysus, god of wine).
Frightening or Intense Things – A teacher turns into a monster beast thing with talons.  Percy’s life is in danger pretty much from the outset.  He relates a few creepy episodes from his past as well, including a man in a trench coat watching him on the playground. There are many terrible creatures sent to kill Percy.  A bus explodes.