Welcome to the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan!!! The first book in the Percy Jackson Series.

General Information:

This book is available in paperback and hardcover. 

After you read the book you might want to read through these discussion questions, but make sure you have read the book first because they have plot spoilers.  This book is also the first in a series.  The other books, in order, are The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, and The Battle of the Labyrinth.

Summary:

The book starts when Percy Jackson, the main character and narrator, is at Yancy Academy, a private school in upstate New York for troubled kids. It's Percy's sixth school in six years. During every year something weird happens to Percy and he gets expelled. At Yancy Academy Percy has one friend named Grover and one teacher that he likes, Mr. Brunner, his Latin teacher. His enemies at school are his math teacher, Mrs. Dobbs, and Nancy Bobofit, the most annoying girl in school.

At their school field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Percy snaps and pushes Nancy into the fountain. Mrs. Dobbs takes him into the museum. That's when something weird happens. Mrs. Dobbs turns into a Fury, one of Hades' tormentors. But that's impossible, the Greek myths weren't true. Suddenly Percy is tossed into the world where the greek myths are real and he is going on a quest to the Underworld to save Zeus's lightning bolt. But not everything is as it appears. 

The Setting:

There are many different settings in the Lightning Thief.  One that could be considered the main setting is Camp Half Blood , a made up camp by Rick Riordan.  This map of Camp Half Blood was designed by Rick Riordan, the author of the Lightning Thief.

Another setting is Mt. Olympus.

History:

There are many gods and goddesses that associate with Percy on his journey. Here is some background information on those gods and goddesses.

Poseidon is the god of water, horses, and earthquakes.

Zeus is the god of the sky, earth, and Mt. Olympus.

Athena is goddess of wisdom and crafts.

Ares is the god of war.

Hermes is the messenger god.

Dionysus is the god of wine. 

Hera is the goddess of marriage and the wife of Zeus.

The Social Complications:

In the story, the social situation is complicated by the fact that Percy Jackson, the main character, is dyslexic and has ADHD.  That ends up making a lot of problems for him in the story.  For example, he has problems with his grades because he is dyslexic. Because he has ADHD, he is always alert in battle and since he is dyslexic he can see things others could not see.

To learn about the gods in a fun way, here are some games:

Quiz

Arcade

To see what other's think of the book:

Student Opinion

       The Lightninig Thief is a great book. Anyone who likes Greek myths would like this book. Even if you don't like Greek myths you will still love the modern versions of the ancient greeks. Percy Jackson narrates the book and his humor filled descriptions will have anyone laughing. This is a great book. - Zoe