Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Imagine being a normal kid who gets kicked out of a lot of schools--actually, every school. Then imagine finding out that the reason for this is not that you have ADHD like you've been told your whole life, but really because you are a Greek demi-god, and that the real Greek gods are still alive and kicking it in Manhattan. Meet Percy Jackson, the main character in this series by Rick Riordan.

I was introduced to this series by a stranger on the train. They saw me reading another book and started asking me if I had read this series (the Percy Jackson series) and how great it was and how they hadn't been able to put it down in days. Now, normally, I make it a rule not to talk to people on the train, especially when I'm in the middle of a good book. But this person just kept going on and on about it, and I found myself listening.

And lo and behold, when I got home that night, my sisters had just finished reading the first book in the series. Logically, my next step was to take the book and lock myself away in my room, forgetting about all things (including homework and dinner) and read this book until I finished it. And just like the stranger on the subway promised, I was not able to put the book down.



The humorous, knowledgeable dialogue between the characters is fun and informative of Greek mythology. There is a fun cast of characters, and the writing style is very simple, and sounds like it is told from a young teenager's perspective. There is not really any deeper meaning to any of the stories; it is just a fun, light read, and a new take on Greek gods and what they are up to.