The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)

By Rick Riordan

1146 ratings 1551 reviews 1755 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 5 - 8Grades 3 - 8W4.787223

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.

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
ISBN-13: 9780786838653
ISBN-10: 0786838655
Published on 3/21/2006
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 416

Book Reviews (1482)

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Percy Jackson is a twelve-year-old boy with dyslexia and ADHD, who has been expelled from every school he has ever attended. When his class takes a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, his pre-algebra teacher Mrs. Dodds transforms into a Fury and attacks him. Percy's Latin teacher Mr. Brunner throws Percy a magic sword named Anaklusmos or the English translation, Riptide, and sends Mrs. Dodds to Tartarus. When Percy come out, he finds that nobody remembers Mrs. Dodds and Mr. Brunner acts same. When Percy and his mother Sally go to Montauk, his best-friend Grover Underwood comes to tell them to leave immediately. They drive away in a horrible storm, and a Minotaur takes Sally in a blinding flash of light. In anger, Percy kills the Minotaur and takes one of its horns. He wakes up three days later, healed by nectar and ambrosia, at Camp Half-Blood. Grover reveals himself to be a satyr, and Mr. Brunner reveals himself to be Chiron the centaur. As nobody knows who Percy's godly father is, he is placed in the Hermes (the god of messengers, travelers, and thieves) cabin. After several water-related incidents, a trident mark appears above Percy's head, this is revealed to be his father, Poseidon, claiming him. The Oracle tells Percy to find the stolen master lightning bolt of Zeus, because the god thinks that Percy is to blame for stealing the lightning bolt. After defeating several monsters including Medusa herself, they find Hades, who actually took Sally. Apparently, his helm of darkness (his symbol of power) seems to have been lost too. Hades also blames Percy for stealing his helm and wants to kill Percy and his mother and release all the dead back into the real world. They use magical pearls, a gift from a Myriad, to save themselves from Hades and discover that Ares actually has the bolt. Percy challenges Ares to a duel and wins, to his own surprise. Lord Hades realizes that Percy did not steal his helm of darkness, so he returns Sally safely. After the bolt is given back to Zeus, Percy's friend, Luke Castellan, is revealed to be the lightning thief and the number one servant of the Lord of the Titans, Kronos. Luke tries to kill Percy by calling on a pit scorpion, but luckily Percy manages to kill it. Unfortunately, Luke had gotten away. The story ends with Percy deciding to spend the school year with Sally.

i read the book watched the movie both are really good

Cloudy Cloudy

I am only in the middle of this book but I can tell its going to be great. It's really exciting and sometimes funny

I'm hooked on this series and I can't stop reading. Ever since I read this, I've been keeping up with each new book Rick Riordan released. I especially like the way he puts in humor in his stories. That's what got me interested in the first place. I definitely recommend this series and all of Riordan's other books!

This is the best book ever!!!!!!!

Stella Stella

There are literally no words to describe how good this book is. It's the most entertaining book I've ever read.

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is great for the reader who loves Greek mythology. It's about a 6th grader, but kids in 5th grade can relate to Percy.

This is a really awesome book and I think other people will like it to!

This is by far my favorite book. The lightning thief is packed with adventure, Greek mythology, and some twists and turns. Once you start reading, you just can't stop. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a novel.

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