The novel takes a deeper look into the life of a perceived troubled child, Percy Jackson. However, as you might have guessed, he does not live a normal life, as he is about to find out that one of his parents is a great Greek god. He faces normal teenage problems, but unfortunately for Percy his life is much more complicated, and bullies are the least of his worries. In Olympus there are major problems as Zeus’s mighty lightning bolt has been stolen and Percy is the prime suspect. Through his journey, in the hope of clearing his name, encounters with mythical creatures are frequent and Zeus’s patience lessens.

The Percy Jackson series is one of the reasons my love and interest for Greek mythology blossomed. Rick Riordan does an exquisite job of employing allusions towards Greek mythology, while combining the premise of a modern-day action novel. I admire his ability to create the premise of an image in one’s head while still allowing for the child’s imagination to fill in the gaps. The diction and plot are quite simple but entertaining. I recommend that those of all ages read this novel; however, those who are pre-teens might find it most suitable for their reading level. Fortunately, it is not the only of the novels and is a part of a long, captivating five book series. Trust me--once you have read the first you will not want to stop there. If the novels aren’t enough, the first two novels were made into movies. They are family friendly and bring to life the characters you love (from my experience the imagination sometimes wanders off from the movie representation of some characters, but that’s all in the fun).