Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Greek Mythology Meets Modern 12-year-old

My almost 10-year-old son and his friends all love the Percy Jackson series, in which a young boy helps the Greek Gods battle mythological monsters in modern-day America.  My son has read almost all the books (we still gotta get the latest that just came out) and can’t wait to see the movie when it comes out next month.

The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by bestselling-author Rick Riordan is about a 12-year-old kid who figures out  is a demigod . . . his mom is human, but his dad, (who left his mom before he was born) was a god.  Percy has to solve the mystery of his identity and discover what powers he possesses.  Percy and his demigod friends train in the ways of the Greek gods at Camp Half-Blood. They end up helping to save the world by fighting a seriously powerful bad guy, the titan lord Kronos and his mythological monsters. In the first book of the series, The Lightning Thief, Percy and his pals journey across the US to catch a thief who stole Zeus’ master lightening bolt. Other books in the series present Percy with other tough challenges. They all come complete with characters straight out of Greek mythology.  What’s fun is to see how Riordan devises ways for the mythological creatures to act in our time and to see how a typical 12-year-old would act with mythological powers. Along the way, of course, Percy learns things about himself.

The book is written from Percy’s point of view, complete with phrases and attitudes typical of a 12-year-old. Percy is just a guy with all the insecurities and issues any boy might have, but he is also a powerful superhero. My son and all his friends in 4th, 5th and 6th grade love these clever, fast-paced books.  The Percy Jackson series has garnered tons of awards and been on best-seller lists. A top choice for boys who love adventure, although girls might like it, too.  The books are on the Accelerated Reader lists, so if your school uses AR tests, you can get AR points for reading them. The first book in the series, The Lightning Thief, has an AR interest level for middle grade students, a book level of 4.7 and possible AR points of 13.

An added learning bonus: kids learn all about Greek mythology.

The movie—The first book is being made into a movie, now in post-production, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, by 20th Century Fox, scheduled for release February 12, 2010. The title role is played by Logan Lerman, 18, of Beverly Hills. Filming took place in Vancouver, Canada, but portions of filming also took place in Nashville, Tennessee, at a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Athens. A second film on the next book in the series is also planned. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters is scheduled to be released sometime in 2012.

You can sign up now at Amazon to be notified when the DVD or Blu-Ray of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is available.

A Percy Jackson Video Game for Nintendo based on the first book and movie is also out. The video game is a tactical role-playing game for Nintendo DS that puts players in command of Percy Jackson and his fellow demigods as they battle for survival in a world ruled by vengeful Greek gods. Several Percy Jackson toys based on the books and movie are also out.

The Percy Jackson Books
The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Titan’s Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian

By the way, Amazon has a great deal on a box set of the first three books.

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