12-year-old Percy Jackson knows he isn’t normal. He knows that he is troubled, having been expelled from six different schools, and somehow managing to vapourize his pre-Algebra teacher, who turned into a fiend with claws and bat wings, with a pen that can turn into a sword, and he also knows that his stepfather smells like “mouldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.” But what he doesn’t know, is that he is a demigod—half-human, half-Greek god—and that the king of the Greek gods, Zeus, is considering him as the prime suspect for stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt. His mother has been killed by a Greek monster, after she dropped Percy at Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for demigods, and he has been claimed as the son of Poseidon, Zeus’ brother and rival. He then embarks on a quest to retrieve the lightning bolt with fellow demigod Annabeth Chase and best friend, satyr Grover Underwood.

Filled with action and suspense, The Lightning Thief will not only entertain readers with the modern portrayal of many important figures in Greek mythology but will also come in handy for an exam on Greek mythology. Percy will make you laugh and, despite his evident flaws, you will want him to be your best friend. Annabeth and Grover are also very likeable, with Annabeth's wits and knowledge, and with Grover's philosophy and cheerfulness. The book having been written in Percy's point of view makes it a very interesting read.

If you liked this novel, then you most definitely should read the other books in the pentalogy Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The Lightning Thief is the first book in the series. Since this novel belongs to the fantasy genre, some other suggested reads would be the novel series The Mortal Instruments and the Harry Potter books.