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The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: R. Riordan
Publisher: Topeka Bindery
Category: Book
List Price: $17.55
Buy Used: $1.75
You Save: $15.80 (90%)
New (2) Used (17) from $1.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  253 reviews
Sales Rank: 355715
Media: Library Binding
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 377
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0439865999
EAN: 9781417732470
ASIN: 1417732474
Publication Date: April 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: We ship books out daily M-F. Tracking number will be emailed when we ship. We list the majority of our books in "Good" condition. If this book had any major flaws, it would be listed in "Acceptable" condition. Easy returns if you are unhappy with book. PLEASE NOTE: We ship immediately, however the Post Office controls delivery speed. In a hurry? Please choose EXPEDITED SHIPPING. Proceeds benefit non-profit Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties.
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Product Description
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school . . . again. No matter how hard he tries, he can't seem to stay out of trouble. But can he really be expected to stand by and watch while a bully picks on his scrawny best friend? Or not defend himself against his pre-algebra teacher when she turns into a monster and tries to kill him? Of course, no one believes Percy about the monster incident; he's not even sure he believes himself.
Until the Minotaur chases him to summer camp.
Suddenly, mythical creatures seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. The gods of Mount Olympus, he's coming to realize, are very much alive in the twenty-first century. And worse, he's angered a few of them: Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Now Percy has just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property, and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. On a daring road trip from their summer camp in New York to the gates of the Underworld in Los Angeles, Percy and his friends–one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena–will face a host of enemies determined to stop them. To succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of failure and betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 248 more reviews...
 An unexpected pageturner September 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Over the summer, I had to read a book for homework and then write about it. The assignment seemed unapppealing until I came upon "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief." I read a couple pages thinking "Oh, another cheezy kid's fantasy." When I read on, it drew me in. I am not the kind of person who gets excited about reading a book, but this book made me want to read it. I finished the book disappointed that it was over and it made me extemely eager continue the series.
I havn't started the second book yet, but I am looking forward to it.
READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!
A Thrilling Triumph September 20, 2008
Percy Jackson isn't your normal hero: He's intelligent, dyslexic, polite, wry, mature beyond his years, sensible, a natural leader, vulnerable, unforced and a lot of fun to read. That's a really tall order for any kind of book, but it does work. Really well.
Riordan is one of the most skillful authors around today. He fuses classical Greek mythology with a modern-day schema in a fresh take that is safe for all ages and will really appeal to teenagers. While his descriptions are full and exquisite, almost nothing he does is new. And still the reader walks away refreshed and entranced.
In a topsy-turvy thousand-mile-an-hour ride, Percy discovers he's the son of a Greek god, gets mixed up in a plot to start war in Olympus (and Earth), has to learn how to survive as a monster magnet, and deal with the loss of everything normal in his life. This page-turner is suspenseful in a way I haven't experienced before. It's a worthy, fun ride.
Riordan is so faithful to the spirit of the ancient mythology that the reader can sense he's tapped into something special. Just be warned when you start reading--you might want to clear away any loose objects (i.e., anything that would be rattled by an earthquake) before you open the book. You might experience some turbulence during the ride!
Note: Families interested in further reading about Greek Mythology might want to look into Dr. Russell's Classics to Read Aloud to Your Children. This would be a good start for further reading on these ancient stories!
These books got my son reading again! September 18, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have a hard time getting my 11 year old to read fiction. He loves non-fiction but getting him to sit down and read a novel is like asking him to scrub the grout between the tiles... except I think he would rather scrub the grout!
When he was younger, he enjoyed the Magic Treehouse series because he could relate to the characters -- they were the same age and they were dealing with subjects that he was interested in: dinosaurs, ancient civilizations etc.
My son's 5th grade teacher started reading this book to their class toward the end of the last year and the entire class was completely enthralled. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), the teacher only got about half way through the book before the end of the year. My son was hooked and wanted to know how the book ended.
We got this book for him and he finished the latter half in a few hours. So I got him books 2, 3, and 4. He read all 3 of those books within a week. He even turned down watching TV or playing his computer games in order to read -- truly a miracle.
My son is in sixth grade and is considered AG for reading so these books were a pretty easy read for him. He was constantly telling me what was happening and talking about the characters as if they were classmates in school.
My son has never shown an interest in Harry Potter or Spyderwick or other currently popular fantasy series.
When asked what he liked about this series as opposed to so much of the other fantasy that is currently available, he liked the fact that:
1. Percy was about his age and had his struggles in middle school (something my own son is dealing with though he isn't a demi-god!).
2. Greek Mythology -- my son loves the ancient greek civilizations. He had originally wanted to read the Odyssey by Homer for his book report but I talked him out of that.
3. Percy was a "modern kid" which, again, made him more relatable.
4. The style of writing was funny and conversational.
I'm just disappointed that Book 5 will be the last in the series. Now I have to find another set that will capture his attention.
Fun change of pace September 10, 2008
My 12 year old son read this book and passed it on to me. What a fun read. We visited the library the next day for books 2 and 3 and he'd finished both by the next afternoon. The adventure is exciting and the Greek mythology references keep it interesting. Who knew Rick Riordan could write for kids? (and clean up his language) Great books.
 My big, fat Greek children's fantasy book September 7, 2008
Rick Riordan's THE LIGHTNING THIEF is the first in his children's fantasy series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and it sets up a world in which denizens of ancient Greek mythology are alive and well in our contemporary times. I dig Greek mythology, so this book was a no-brainer must-get for me. Halfway thru reading THE LIGHTNING THIEF, I jumped online and ordered the three sequels (and then, of course, I went back to reading).
A bit on the plot now: He's never been quite that ordinary boy, hasn't 12-year-old New Yorker Percy Jackson. Suffering from dyslexia and ADHD and always having peculiar things happen to him, Percy has always felt like an outcast. The schools he's attended have all singled him out for expulsion, and at home he shares an uneasy existence with his abusive dad-in-law. The only bright lights in his life are his supportive mother and his only friend, Grover, who's a bit of a sissy. But, it turns out, there's a reason for all of Percy's woes...
After even more weirdness in his life (including his math teacher's attempt to kill him), Percy Jackson finds his way to Camp Half-Blood (a magical refuge and training ground for fellow demi-gods), where he finally learns that he is the son of the sea god Poseidon and destined, it seems, for big things. He also learns that his best bud Grover is actually a satyr. Percy's tumultuous time at Camp Half-Blood ends abruptly when he's charged with a quest to retrieve Zeus's stolen lightning bolt, a task intended to avert a cataclysmic war among the gods. But the quest comes with a ten day deadline. Ten days, to trek cross-country from New York to Los Angeles, where the Underworld and its god Hades await. Bad for Percy, good for the reader.
There's also a little running subplot centering on Percy being wanted by the police for juvenile delinquency. Percy's also implicated in the disappearance of his mother.
Rick Riordan aims his urban fantasy at a pre-teen audience and hits his mark, but also manages to net older readers. At 375 pages long, THE LIGHTNING THIEF doesn't claim the heft of a Harry Potter novel, or its complexity, inventiveness, or resonance - not yet, anyway. Comparisons to Harry Potter are near inevitable, what with both lead protagonists embroiled in prophecies and heroic destinies. Not to mention, Annabeth - half-mortal daughter of Athena and, with Grover, one of Percy's quest companions - might seem too familiar a character, reminiscent of a certain brainy teenaged witch at Hogwart's. To me, so far, Rowling's stuff is superior, but then, I've only read the first book in Riordan's series. THE LIGHTNING THIEF still qualifies as an entertaining and lighthearted fantasy adventure. I'm not at all surprised that a film series is in the works (I hear, sometime in 2009).
I really enjoyed the sense of fun running thru these pages. Particularly when the author unveils his wicked chapter titles, my favorites being "I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-algebra Teacher," "Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death," and "I Battle My Jerk Relative." And, yet, Riordan instills enough seriousness in Percy's adventures and the epic stakes are treated with enough concern that you can't just dismiss the story as strictly a farcical fantasy romp. I admit, though, that the sequence with the bed & mattress store may be a bit too silly.
I like the conceit of gods dwelling in our midst, and specifically the Greek gods, who, in many ways, seem to be as petulantly human as we regular mortals. Riordan postulates that the gods have always been drawn to where western civilization is at its most potent. And this time around, that's in the States. As such, we get to read about the kids braving the Empire State Building, on which 600th floor the hidden Mt. Olympus is anchored. That the Underworld is now located in Los Angeles seems too perfect for words. Meanwhile, a passing familiarity with Greek mythology is nice and heightens the enjoyment, as Riordan goes to reveal how certain mythological figures have adapted to modern day life.
I'm not yet sold on Percy Jackson, the character. The story is told thru Percy's first person perspective, which means that at times the narrative is streaked thru with attitude and pre-teen anxieties. Percy displays all of a modern kid's characteristics; he's at times hip and sardonic but also abrasive, foolish, hot-headed and exasperating. And I guess that's realistic enough. I think I like the kid, and I certainly can't wait to read more about him. Himself new to the magic around him, Percy makes a good point-of-view character, as he interacts with these folks cut from old legend and as he stumbles onto his demi-godlike abilities. I also dig the magic pen.
Fast paced and with enough moments of Percy and company being beset by monsters, THE LIGHTNING THIEF ends in a way which lets you know that Percy's challenges will only continue to mount. The stage is set in later books for Percy to face off against a foe perhaps even more formidable than the Olympian Gods. Percy Jackson will certainly have a chance to become a great hero. And, really, when your name is short for Perseus, there's a lot to live up to.
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