The YA Book Log

As I sat in the movie theatre waiting for the long anticipated sixth Harry Potter movie, I watched the coming attractions including the picture books, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Where the Wild Things Are. Although I knew those books, it was a young adult novel that caught my attentions. Several years back a Harry Potter expert spoke at an End of Summer Program and highly recommended PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS. I made a mental note to read it, but like many suggestions they remain on a list, however, the movie trailer for THE LIGHTNING THIEF by Rick Riordan reminded to read it.

Percy Jackson, 12 -year-old, is dyslexic and has ADHD. He has never spent more than one year at any school,because there are always strange things happening to him. At his current school, Yancy Academy, Percy is on a class trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to visit the Greek and Roman stuff. While sitting on the Museum steps eating lunch, Percy finds himself in the middle of a fight and is forced to follow Mrs. Dodds, the math teacher back into the museum.

Back in the Greek and Roman exhibit Mrs. Dodds reminds Percy she is not a fool and begins to change form. "Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human." ( The Lightning Thief, p. 12) To save his life Percy must defeat his math teacher or whatever she was. After returning to the museum steps, Percy discovers there is no teacher named Mrs. Dodds.

As summer vacation begins Percy and his mother try to spend a few days on eastern Long Island away from his stepfather. The trip is cut short, because forces beyond Percy's control takes over. He discovers his best friend is a satyr (half-man, half-goat), and his mother must get him to the summer camp for the children of the Greek Gods. As they try to reach camp Percy must fight a minotaur, and that is only the beginning of the adventure. Who could his Dad be, Zeus, Hades or Posiden? As Percy learns the ins and outs of being a hero, he also learns that heroes must embark on quests; what an adventure for a 12-year-old boy a quest to save Western civilization from the warring Greek gods.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF is just the beginning of Percy's adventures. The other titles are THE SEA OF MONSTERS, THE TITAN'S CURSE, THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH, and THE LAST OLYMPIANS. Just a tease THE SEA OF MONSTERS has the Cyclops, actually two of them.

I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS LOVE GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND LOVES ADVENTURES ABOUT FRIENDSHIP.

Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services